Crawford Blagden

Crawford Blagden (March 2, 1881 – January 11, 1937) was an American football player. He played college football for the Harvard Crimson football team and was selected as a consensus All-American at the tackle position in 1901.

Crawford Blagden
Born:(1881-03-02)March 2, 1881
New York City
Died:January 11, 1937(1937-01-11) (aged 55)
New York City
Career information
Position(s)Tackle
CollegeHarvard University

Crawford was born in 1881 in New York City.[1] His grandfather, Luther C. Clark, was one of the founders of the banking firm, Clark, Dodge & Co.[1] He attended Harvard University, where he played for the Harvard Crimson football team. In 1901 he was selected as a consensus All-American tackle.[2] The 1901 Harvard team defeated rival Yale by a score of 17 to 0.[3]

After graduating from Harvard, Blagden served as the line coach at Harvard under Percy Haughton.[1] In 1914, with the outbreak of war in Europe, Blagden and Grenville Clark developed the idea to develop camps to train civilians for potential wartime service as officers.[1] These camps at Plattsburgh, New York, became the Citizens' Military Training Camp. When the United States entered World War I, Blagden was trained at Plattsburgh and served as a lieutenant-colonel in the United States Army in France.[1] In 1918, he led an advance by the 317th Infantry to rescue the survivors of the so-called "Lost Battalion" from the Argonne Forest in France.[3][4]

After the war, Blagden worked for Atlantic Navigation Corporation and later for Joseph Walker & Sons, a stock brokerage company.[1] He retired in 1932.[1] Blagden was married twice. In 1911, he was married to Mary Hopkins, a granddaughter of Williams College president Mark Hopkins.[1] They had a son, Crawford Blagden, Jr. His first wife died in 1912.[3] In 1918, he married his second wife, Minna E. MacLeod of Nova Scotia.[1]

In January 1936, Blagden died at the Harkness Pavilion of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center after suffering an attack of influenza. He was 55 years old when he died.[1][5]

References
  1. "Col. Blagden Dies; World War Hero; Veteran of the 307th Helped to Rescue Lost Battalion in Argonne Forest in 1918; Football Star of 1901; Harvard Tackle Returned to His Alma Mater in After Years to Coach Line Players". The New York Times. January 13, 1937.
  2. "Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA. 2012. p. 4.
  3. "Col. Crawford Blagden Dies From Influenza at 55: Aides in Rescuing Survivors of Lost Battalion; Harvard Football Star". The Lewiston Sun (AP story). January 12, 1937.
  4. "Blagden, Harvard Star, Led Advance: Captain's Men First to Reach Perles". Daily Boston Globe. September 8, 1918.
  5. "150 Attend Rites for Col. Blagden: Army Officers Act as Honorary Pallbearers at Service in Grace Church". The New York Times. January 15, 1937.
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