Collection inventory

Special Collections home page

Ben Schwartzwalder Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Meg Mason and Amanda Acquard
Date: 2010

Biography

Ben Schwartzwalder

Floyd Burdette "Ben" Schwartzwalder (1909-1993) was head football coach at Syracuse University from 1949 to 1973, leading the team to an impressive record of 153 wins, 91 losses, and 3 ties.

Ben (a childhood nickname) Schwartzwalder attended West Virginia University, where he received a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1933 and a master's degree in education in 1935. Schwartzwalder then coached high school football in West Virginia and Ohio until 1941.

During World War II, Schwartzwalder enlisted and served as a paratrooper in the United States Army. As a member of the famed 82nd Airborne, he parachuted onto Normandy Beach on D-Day in 1944. He rose to the rank of major and was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, four battle stars, and a Presidential Unit citation. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.

After the war Schwartzwalder became head football coach at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and compiled a 25-5 record between 1946 and 1948.

Schwartzwalder became head football coach at Syracuse University in 1949. He led the football team to a 1959 National Championship, four Lambert Trophies, and 7 bowl games. He recruited such notable players as Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Floyd Little, and Larry Csonka. During his tenure as head coach, a group of nine Black players on his team, known as the Syracuse 8, boycotted the football program in 1970 to protest practices of institutionalized racism. The Committee on Allegations of Racial Discrimination in the Football Program, commissioned by Chancellor John Corbally that fall, conducted an investigation and released a report that concluded "racism in the Syracuse University Athletic Department is real, chronic, largely unintentional, and sustained and complicated unwittingly by many modes of behavior common in American athletics and long-standing at Syracuse University."

Schwartzwalder retired after the 1973 season. In 1959 Schwartzwalder was voted Coach of the Year, and in 1967 he was elected President of the National Football Coaches Association. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982, he is also in the Huntington High School Hall of Fame and West Virginia University Hall of Fame. Schwartzwalder also has a trophy named after him that is awarded to the winner of the annual Syracuse University-West Virginia University football game.

Scope and Content Note

The Ben Schwartzwalder Papers span the years 1912 to 2008, but the bulk of materials date between 1950 and 1980. Documenting the personal and professional life of Schwartzwalder, Syracuse University's most successful football coach, the papers are made up of seven series:

Audio and video recordings document such events as football games and Schwartzwalder at dinners and receptions. Most of the recordings are VHS.

Correspondence consists of three subseries: Anecdotes for book, reminiscences of Schwartzwalder sent to Ida Pirro and Reggie Schwartzwalder, who were compiling them for a never-published book; Correspondence by name; and General correspondence. Notable correspondents include Chancellor William Tolley, Floyd Little, J. Edgar Hoover, Arnold Palmer, and Richard Nixon.

Making up a significant part of the Schwartzwalder Papers, the Memorabilia series consists of plaques and trophies, footballs, framed portraits of Schwartzwalder, souvenir clothing, pins and buttons, and miscellaneous personal items, such as watches and cufflinks. Items of note include Cotton Bowl binoculars, a Ben Schwartzwalder doll autographed by the 1959 SU football team, concrete pieces of Archbold Stadium, and Schwartzwalder's army footlocker.

The Military papers series documents Schwartzwalder’s service in the United States Army, both during and after World War II. His military identification, letters of commendations, and service records are among these papers.

The Personal papers series covers a wide variety of materials and subjects. Much of the series comprises a large amount of papers and notes relating to Schwartzwalder’s involvement in football, at and beyond Syracuse University. This includes a folder of materials about the 1970 football strike, during which nine Black football players, known as the Syracuse 8, walked out of spring practice in protest of racial discrimination in the University's athletics program. The series also consists of cartoons, scrapbooks, awards and other honorary certificates, and numerous special events programs.

The Photographs series includes a wide variety of identified and unidentified images of Schwartzwalder as a child, football teams and games, dinners and receptions, portraits, and other miscellaneous events from his life. Two photograph albums, one of the 1960 Cotton Bowl, also comprise this series.

Published materials include magazines, articles and newsletters relating to coaching, Schwartzwalder or Syracuse University football, as well as books, yearbooks, and a voluminous amount of newspaper clippings.

Boxes 32 and 33 of this collection are missing as of June 2022.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

The following item from the Schwartzwalder Papers is on extended loan from the University Archives to Manley Field House: an oversize photograph (40" x 29") .

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

All Syracuse University football programs and annual schedules were removed to be incorporated into the Syracuse University Football Collection, and two motion picture films were added to the Syracuse University Audiovisual Collection.

The University Archives holds the Syracuse University Football Collection, the Ernie Davis Collection, and the Syracuse 8 Collection as well as clipping and portrait files of Ben Schwartzwalder.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Davis, Ernie, 1939-1963.
Little, Floyd, 1942-
Schwartzwalder, Ben, 1909-1993.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Boycotts.
College sports.
Football.
Student movements.
Student protesters.
World War, 1939-1945.
Football coaches.

Types of Material

Awards.
Film reels.
Memorabilia.
Photographs.
Sound recordings.
Videotapes.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Ben Schwartzwalder Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ben and Reggie Schwartzwalder between 1980 and 2009, and Coach Jim Shreve '51.

Processing Information

Materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes.

Arrangement

Materials have been arranged alphabetically and then chronologically.

Table of Contents

Audio and video recordings

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Military papers

Personal papers

Photographs

Published materials

Inventory