Van Horn and Clarke Fields

Pre-Merger Football at Case Western Reserve University

Football Players on Van Horn Field This 1911 photo shows players fighting at the goal line. Bleacher fans in the background are likely watching at Van Horn Field. Note the players are wearing leather helmets. Source: Case Western Reserve University Archives Date: 1911

Case School of Applied Sciences and Western Reserve University grew up as next-door neighbors and friends — until it was time to compete on the athletic field. Seventy-five years of competition ended as the Case Rough Riders and Western Reserve Red Cats joined forces as the CWRU Spartans.

The blending of Case School of Applied Sciences and Western Reserve University (Adelbert College) began in 1882 as the schools relocated from downtown Cleveland and Hudson, respectively, to adjoining land plots in University Circle. Amasa Stone donated money to acquire land for Adelbert College, and other donors stepped up to contribute funds to acquire adjoining property for Case. The concept of cooperation and collaboration of the two schools appealed to the donors and trustees of both institutions. The northwest-southeast campus spaces were bounded by Euclid Avenue, a railroad line, Adelbert Road, and Doan Brook. Adelbert College faced Case School of Applied Sciences with a shared “front yard” delineated by a sidewalk and, at times, a fence. The faculties and school administrations began a friendly relationship to complement each school’s programs which also manifested the sharing of space and facilities over time as needed. Despite the boundary, students and faculty shared experiences on campus at both institutions.

So, the story begins with buildings as Case began developing the southwestern ’stripe’ of campus land with one building in 1886 while Adelbert built five buildings on the northeastern ‘stripe’. By 1900, the Case campus occupied six buildings and WRU had nineteen. A center sidewalk marked the schools’ property line. Both schools dedicated space on the south side of campus to athletic fields which mirrored each other. Athletics in colleges in the later 1800s were typified by “pickup” games among students and faculty (intramural games) or “club” games with neighborhood teams involving track and field sports, baseball and, the newcomer, football. Two of Adelbert’s opponents in 1890 were Cleveland high school teams. By 1900, football had grown in national popularity among high school and college sports to the top of the scholastic sporting list. Case and Western Reserve were growing as well. Interscholastic competition was becoming popular and both schools sought to enter the competition. It is noteworthy that collegiate athletics and competition were generally governed not by the schools’ administrations, but by organizations of students, faculty, and patrons (boosters) to support sports programs.

Frank R. Van Horn was hired to the Case faculty in 1897 as a professor of assaying (geology) but was also assigned extra-curricular duties with the Case Athletic Association, the campus sports organization. Dr. Van Horn took a keen interest in the growing interscholastic scene and its demands upon the community to support the teams with both spirit and financial resources. He began a campaign to raise funds via ticket sales by fencing the field and building grandstands to accommodate spectators at the events in 1903. His planning succeeded with Case ‘Rough Rider’ football thriving for 36 seasons playing 167 home games on Van Horn Field and occasionally hosting 34 Reserve home games as well through 1939. Case, like Reserve, played area teams; the two schools hosted games in Cleveland nearly every week to the pleasure of local fans. Van Horn Field was the campus home field during these four decades, but many of both schools’ games were played at local venues — League Park, Shaw High Stadium, and Cleveland Municipal Stadium — to accommodate larger crowds.

At Reserve, the blend of alumni and students to organize and ‘administer’ intercollegiate sports began during the 1890s and remained in force until 1919 when an unscrupulous alumnus absconded with the athletic treasury. The school ‘enrolled’ the sports program administration into the physical education department. Reserve ‘Red Cat’ football adopted and maintained a seven- to nine-game schedule in each season between 1891 and 1903 with opponents from around Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Reserve home games were played on Justice John H. Clarke Field on campus as well as other local venues. The development of Van Horn Field provided shared facilities for Reserve as well. Improvements and additions to Clarke Field at mid-century made it the primary home site for WRU with 70 games and Case with 43 games between 1952 and 1966. Each season ended with Case as the opponent on a campus field or at the local League Park.

Both Case and Reserve scheduled annual opponents that also included Ohio State, Penn State, Cornell, Syracuse, Michigan, Notre Dame, Navy, and once with Alabama along with smaller neighboring college and university teams from the multi-state region during the first four decades decades of the 20th century. The allure of college football grew throughout the first half of the century and both schools maintained healthy fan bases and local attendance on fall Saturdays. Attendance at Saturday football began to diminish in the early 1950s signaling declining interest among students and fans.

By the end of the 1953 season, Case President T. Keith Glennan assembled a committee to review the athletic program. In December, he announced that football would be dropped from the athletic program. Reactions were strong on both sides of the issue; the loss of tradition and a popular sport versus the increasingly competitive and costly circumstances of intercollegiate football. A “funeral” was held on campus complete with a coffin, deflated football, and one-ton gravestone. Meanwhile, Glennan instructed the Case committee to draft a proposal to assemble a league of schools using Ivy League guidelines for athletics: no athletic scholarships and an emphasis on academics as the primary focus for all students.

Football continued unabated in 1954. Two years later, both schools became members of the newly formed Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC), which fielded between four and eleven teams over the years. The newly renovated Clarke Field was home to both schools through 1966 while space on campus north of Euclid Avenue was developed for Ed Finnigan athletic fields. Case and Western Reserve cooperated in several ways for the 70+ years they shared space in and around University Circle. On July 1, 1966, the schools announced a federation agreement to become Case Western Reserve University under a single Board of Directors and President. Presidents Glennan of Case and John Millis of WRU had worked towards this merger for several years. The merging of institutional programs would ensue for about four years, but meanwhile the two football teams maintained separate annual schedules through the 1969 season ending with their annual rivalry, a 28–14 victory for WRU on November 15, 1969, played on Finnigan Field. The 1970 CWRU team continued as the Spartans with student athletes from the new federated university. Teams maintained home schedules on Finnigan Field through the 2004 season. In 2005, the new $126 million DiSanto Field opened to host home football and soccer games and house the Bill Sudeck Track. The state-of-the-art facility is nestled among seven dormitory buildings between East 115th and 117th Streets north of Euclid Avenue.

Meanwhile, Van Horn Field and Clarke Field remained next-door neighbors for 75 years serving intercollegiate and intramural athletics at both institutions in different phases of growth and development. Van Horn remains today, realigned with new facilities as a recreational field in the original location of Van Horn and Clarke Fields on the Case Western Reserve University campus.