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Walter Chauncey Camp

Walter Chauncey Camp
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Albert W. Hampson, 1910 - 21 Feb 1990
Copy after
Unidentified Artist (Photographer)
Sitter
Walter Chauncey Camp, 7 Apr 1859 - 14 Mar 1925
Date
c. 1960
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 71.1 x 91.4 x 2.5cm (28 x 36 x 1")
Frame: 95.6 x 115.9 x 6cm (37 5/8 x 45 5/8 x 2 3/8")
Topic
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Cap
Exterior\Sports arena
Walter Chauncey Camp: Male
Walter Chauncey Camp: Literature\Writer
Walter Chauncey Camp: Literature\Writer\Magazine article writer
Walter Chauncey Camp: Sports and Recreation\Athletic director
Walter Chauncey Camp: Sports and Recreation\Coach\Football
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Theodore M. Hampson
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.91.151
Exhibition Label
Born New Britain, Connecticut
The undisputed “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp introduced the innovative rule changes that transformed English rugby into a uniquely American game. Camp was a stellar player on the Yale football squad (1876–82), but his off-the-field contributions to the emerging sport were of even greater importance. A member of the Intercollegiate Football Association’s rules committee for forty-eight years beginning in 1877, Camp spearheaded the initiatives that reduced teams from fifteen to eleven players and created the key position of quarterback. He instituted the line of scrimmage, suggested a system of downs to govern possession of the ball, devised the present-day point system, and is credited with developing the distinctive gridiron pattern of the playing field. In short, no one proved more influential than Walter Camp in shaping the structure of the modern game.
Provenance
The artist; his son Ted Hampson, Lake Forest, Ill.; gift 1991 to NPG
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Champions
On View
NPG, South Gallery 341 Mezzanine