University Barge Club

{{Infobox rowing club

|name = University Barge Club

|image_name = UBC_logo.jpg

|blade_image = University Barge Club Rowing Blade.svg

|admission =1854 (founding member)

|established = 1851

|key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Brendan O'Malley(president)|Alex Cook (captain)|Deirdre Mullen (Navy delegate)|Jennifer Wesson (HOSR director)}}

|membership =250 active members{{Cite web

| title = University Barge Club

| publisher = University Barge Club

| url = http://www.universitybarge.com/index.html

| access-date = 5 May 2010}}

|location = #7 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|home_water = Schuylkill River

|colors = Royal Blue {{Color box|royalblue}} and White {{Color box|white}}

|affiliations = Chestnut Hill Academy, Springside School, University of Pennsylvania Alumni Rowing, and Head of the Schuylkill

|website= http://www.universitybarge.com

{{Designation list

| embed = yes

| designation1 = Philadelphia Register of Historic Places

| designation1_offname =

| designation1_date =

| designation1_number =}}

}}

University Barge Club of Philadelphia (also known as UBC){{Cite book

| last = Thayer

| first = John B.

| chapter = The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia

| title = The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

| volume = 29

|date=June 1904

| location = Philadelphia

| publisher = Historical Society of Pennsylvania

| pages = 287–88

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA287

}} is an amateur rowing club located at #7 in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.{{Cite web|title=Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State |publisher=National Historic Landmarks Survey, National Park Service |page=81 |url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST07.pdf |access-date=6 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824165403/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST07.pdf |archive-date=August 24, 2009 }} The club's founding, in 1854, is considered the "dawn of organized athletics in the University of Pennsylvania."{{Cite book

| last = Thayer

| first = John B.

| chapter = The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia

| title = The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

| volume = 29

|date=June 1904

| location = Philadelphia

| publisher = Historical Society of Pennsylvania

| pages = 284

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA284

}} Known as "the upper-class rowing club," UBC is a founder, and the most senior member, of the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States, the Schuylkill Navy.{{Cite book

| last = Baltzell

| first = E. Digby

| title = The Protestant Establishment Revisited

| chapter = Upper-Class Clubs and Associations in Philadelphia

| publisher = Transaction Publishers

| year = 2001

| page = 102

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M9_S2yqcnh0C&pg=PA102

| isbn = 978-0-7658-0664-2}}

Founding

University Barge Club was founded in 1854 by ten members of the University of Pennsylvania's freshman class:{{Cite book

| last = Crowther

| first = Samuel

|author2=Arthur Brown Ruhl

| title = Rowing and Track Athletics

| chapter = The Beginning of Rowing

| publisher = MacMillan

| year = 1905

| location = New York

| page = [https://archive.org/details/rowingandtracka01ruhlgoog/page/n42 24]

| url = https://archive.org/details/rowingandtracka01ruhlgoog}} J. Ashhurst Bowie, Horace G. Browne, Alexander B. Coxe, Pemberton S. Hutchinson, Chas. I. Macouen, J. Beauclerc Newman, James H. Peabody, Edmund A. Robinson, George H. Waring, and John W. Williams. They first rowed out of a Schuylkill boathouse near the Fairmount Waterworks known simply as "Charlie's boathouse".{{Cite web

| title = University Barge Club founded 1854, Penn Crew in the 1800s

| last = Tannenbaum

| first = Seth S. |author2=Hood, Clifton R. |author3=McConaghy, Mary D.

|date=April 2006

| publisher = University Archives, University of Pennsylvania

| url = http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/crew/1800s/histy_bargeclub.html

| access-date = 6 May 2010}} The club was officially formed when the founders purchased its first boat, the Hesperus, from Bachelors Barge Club.{{Cite book

| last = Thayer

| first = John B.

| chapter = The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia

| title = The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

| volume = 29

|date=June 1904

| location = Philadelphia

| publisher = Historical Society of Pennsylvania

| pages = 285–86

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA285

}} Club members wore sailor uniforms from clothier Jacob Reed that were monogrammed with "U.B.C." on their hats and belts. In 1855, members of the club, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Barge Club, built a one-story brick boathouse on rented land. The club purchased a second boat, named Lucifer. After 1860, both boats were moved to a space rented from the Philadelphia Skating Club, which is now the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club.{{Cite book

| last = Peverelly

| first = Charles A.

| title = The Book of American Pastimes

| publisher = Author

| chapter = University Barge Club

| year = 1866

| location = New York

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bookamericanpas00pevegoog/page/n223 204]–05

| url = https://archive.org/details/bookamericanpas00pevegoog

}}

At first, membership was limited to students enrolled at Penn, but the club was not listed as a student organization of the university until 1867, when the University Barge Club won the Schuylkill Navy championship flag. Membership was later opened to Penn alumni and certain non-alumni.

Although the club was still affiliated with the university, it gradually began to cater more to non-students. As the club's membership became dominated by Old Philadelphians{{Cite book

| last = Burt

| first = Nathaniel

| title = The Perennial Philadelphians: the anatomy of an American aristocracy

| chapter = The Schuylkill Navy

| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press

| year = 1999

| pages = 297–98

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L9ueb6r1uXgC&pg=PA297

| isbn = 978-0-8122-1693-6}} from the upper-class aristocracy, student enthusiasm waned.

In 1871, the Fairmount Park commission allowed the club to build its own boathouse on Boathouse Row.{{Cite thesis

| last = Stillner

| first = Anna

| title = The Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club: An Incremental Historic Structure Report

| year = 2005

| page =28

| url = http://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/41

| access-date = 30 April 2010 }} In 1872, Penn students formed an alternative club, the College Boat Club, to cater to students and focus on preparing for intercollegiate competitions.

In 1887, University Barge Club leased an additional upriver clubhouse for social functions called The Lilacs on the west bank of the Schuylkill. Today, while many of the University Barge Club's members are University of Pennsylvania graduates, the club has no official affiliation with the university.

University Barge Club is the sister club of Union Boat Club of Boston.{{Cite web

|title = Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta 2009 Program

|publisher = Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta

|year = 2009

|page = 22

|url = http://www.hosr.org/2009HOSRPROGRAM.pdf

|access-date = 10 June 2010

}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} For more than 60 years, the two sister clubs have held an annual interclub "UBC" regatta.

History of the boathouse

The boathouse, at #7-8 Boathouse Row, dates from 1871, and was greatly expanded in 1891.{{Cite web

| title = University Barge Club History

| publisher = University Barge Club

| url = http://www.universitybarge.com/history.html

| access-date = 6 May 2010}} Originally, University Barge Club only occupied #7, while Philadelphia Barge Club occupied #8. In 1932, University Barge Club acquired #8 when Philadelphia Barge Club ceased operations.

File:University72.png|University Barge Club,
#7-8 Boathouse Row

File:University and Philadelphia Barge Houses, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views-crop-.png|Boathouse before 1891 expansion