Pitt Football: Through the Years

New photo exhibition at Pitt’s Hillman Library showcases team’s successes

As the Pitt Panthers football team begins its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a new photography exhibition highlighting historic key moments and athletes from the team’s 124 years is open now through Jan. 17, 2014, on the ground floor of Pitt’s Hillman Library, 3960 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Highlights include:

• an 1899 group photograph of the team’s humble beginnings when the University was still known as the Western University of Pennsylvania;

• a group portrait of the University of Pittsburgh Marching Band circa 1912-1913, taken at Forbes Field;

• a 1922 photo of legendary coach Glenn Scobey “Pop” Warner, under whose leadership the Panthers had 30 wins and garnered three national championships in 1915, 1916, and 1918;

• a 1922 image of the Pitt Panthers official mascot;

• a 1955 photo of Pitt fullback Robert “Bobby” Grier, widely known for breaking the color barrier in 1956 as the first African American ever to compete in the Sugar Bowl; and

• a photo of Pitt Panther running back Tony Dorsett, a Heisman Trophy winner his senior year at Pitt (1976) and the No. 2 pick in the 1977 NFL draft, who went on to play 11 years in the NFL and was selected four times for the Pro Bowl.  

The photos, which are all from the University Archives collection within the University Library System, can be viewed by visiting http://documenting.pitt.edu/exhibits/football-through-years

The University of Pittsburgh Library System is the 22nd largest academic library system in North America. It includes 14 libraries and holds more than 6.7 million volumes, world specialized collections, and major foreign language materials from around the world.  The library system offers state-of-the-art facilities and services, including innovative digital library collections and services and a robust Open Access publishing program. Visit www.library.pitt.edu for more information.