George V. Brown
Encyclopedia
George V. Brown of Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just under 30 miles west and south of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day in April, and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation.For geographic and demographic...
championed the development of various sports and sporting events in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, most notably the Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
and amateur ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
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From 1904 to 1936, Brown served the United States Olympic Team as a manager, official, and coach. In 1919, he became general manager of the Boston Arena, home to indoor track meets, boxing matches, and hockey games, among other events. Later, he continued in that role at the Boston Garden until his son Walter A. Brown took over upon George’s death at the age of fifty-seven.
Boston Athletic Association and Boston Marathon
In 1899, Brown was hired as an assistant to the Boston Athletic AssociationBoston Athletic Association
The Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit, organized sports association for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It hosts such events as the world-renowned Boston Marathon....
(BAA) Athletic Director. For thirty-three years, from 1905 to 1937, Brown served as starter of the BAA’s Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
, the oldest annually run marathon. For eleven of those years, he also managed the race.
From 1905 to 1921, Brown managed the BAA track and field games, and for over twenty years, served as the BAA Director of Athletics. In 1910, Brown started and managed an ice hockey team, and formed a football team for the BAA.
Brown also served on the BAA Governing Committee for twenty years, having transitioned from club employee to club member and leader.
Ice Hockey
During Brown’s youth, hockey was in its infancy in the United States. In 1910, Brown formed and managed an amateur ice hockey team for the BAA, which played at the newly constructed Boston Arena.Over the next two decades, Brown organized hockey events held at the Arena, including Canadian-American games and collegiate competitions. When the Arena burnt down in 1918, Brown persuaded its owner, Henry Lapham, to rebuild. Brown was then named general manager and promoted hockey as its major draw. In 1934, Lapham purchased the rival Garden, and named Brown as its general manager and vice president. When professional hockey was first introduced and its teams sought to play at Boston’s rinks, Brown opposed, favoring amateur competition. He later accepted the professionals and promoted the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
playing at the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
.
Brown served as Athletic Director at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
(BU) and in 1917, was instrumental in the creation of the school’s first hockey team. The BU hockey team’s annual Most Valuable Player award is named the George V. Brown Memorial Award, in his honor.
For the first Winter Olympic Games
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
in 1924, Brown organized the US Olympic Hockey team, with seven of the ten members coming from the BAA team. The team earned a silver medal.
Because of his contributions to the emerging field of hockey, in 1961, Brown was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in Toronto, Canada as a Builder. He was also enshrined as a Builder by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
United States Hockey Hall of Fame
The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the rich history of the game in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and teams....
in Eveleth, Minnesota in 1973.
Olympics
In addition to organizing the 1924 US Olympic Hockey team, Brown was a manager or US Olympic committee member from 1908 to 1920. He was the assistant track and field coach for the US men’s team in 1924, 1928, and 1936. For the 1932 games in Los Angeles, Brown served as an official. In January 1938, the United States Olympic CommitteeUnited States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
marked his death with a moment of silence.
Other Sports Affiliations
As General Manager of the Boston Arena and Boston Garden, Brown promoted all manner of sporting events including college hockey, indoor track and field, amateur boxing, wrestling, water follies, and figure skating, featuring Olympic star Sonja HenieSonja Henie
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
.
In addition to his primary passions—ice hockey, track and field, and the Boston Marathon—Brown created a BAA football team. He also officiated football games, and was an officer in the New England Football Officials Association for a dozen years. Brown also served as a member of the amateur boxing committee and organized national amateur championships from 1905 to 1920. Rowing was another sport for which he was an advocate, and for fourteen years, Brown was secretary of the Boston Interscholastic Rowing Association.
Brown enlisted in the 6th division of the US Navy and was appointed as Director of Athletics for the 1st District during World War I. He designed an athletic competition, the Chariot Race, that allowed thousands of men to compete in teams of one hundred, first demonstrated on the Boston Common in 1917.
Legacy
Brown lived in Hopkinton, MassachusettsHopkinton, Massachusetts
Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just under 30 miles west and south of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day in April, and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation.For geographic and demographic...
throughout his life, married Elizabeth Gallagher
Elizabeth Gallagher
Elizabeth Gallagher was an American painter, illustrator, and author of children's books, including Spaghetti Betty and Skinny Minny, based on her comic of the same name that ran in the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Bulletin, and the Washington Post during the 1960s.-Personal life:Born on June...
, and had four sons and three daughters, who continued their father’s pursuits.
His son, Walter A. Brown
Walter A. Brown
Walter A. Brown was the original owner of the Boston Celtics as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States.-Life:...
, assumed the General Manager position at the Boston Garden upon his father’s death. Walter A. Brown went on to become General Manager of the Boston Bruins ice hockey team, and founding Owner and General Manager of the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
men’s professional basketball team. Like his father, Walter A. Brown was inducted into the hockey halls of fame, and in addition, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Walter also served as starter of the Boston marathon from 1938 to 1942, and held the post of BAA president for over twenty years.
Since 1905, for every year except one, a member of the Brown family has been the starter of the Boston marathon. After George V. and Walter A., George V. Brown Jr. started the race, from 1943 to 1980. Another son of George V., Thomas J. Brown, who was BAA president from 1982 to 1985, served as the starter for the race through 1989. Thomas Brown’s wife, Rosalie, has started the wheelchair race. George V.'s grandson, Walter F. Brown, became the starter in 1990 and continues in that role.
Like the Boston Marathon, many of the sporting events George V. Brown fostered, have continued for over a century.
In 2008, the Hopkinton Athletic Association commissioned sculptor Michael Alfano to create a statue honoring Brown. The bronze monument, "The Starter," was installed on the town common in 2009.