Attorney Robert "Bob" Burks, Washington State College class of 1954, was a lifetime Washington State Cougar football fan (his father was a center for the Cougars in 1923). Burks began collecting clippings and photos as a child, and continued doing so all his life, compiling scrapbooks of them. In 1980, Richard Fry's book on WSU sports history, The Crimson and the Gray: 100 Years with the WSU Cougars describes Bob Burks on pages 274-275 as "hands down" WSU's number one football fan. Burks passed away in Bellevue, Washington on July 10th, 2009.
Football at Washington State University (then the Washington State Agricultural College) dates back to November 17th, 1894. The sport has been played each year since, excepting 1942-1943, when it was canceled because of World War II.
The collection consists of 10 scrapbooks, held in 9 boxes, containing newspaper and magazine clippings of both articles and photographs, as well as clippings from programs and other promotional material. One scrapbook deals with Rose Bowls and not WSU, and that scrapbook is filed at the end.
The scrapbooks are filed in chronological order. One scrapbook deals with Rose Bowls and not WSU, and that scrapbook is filed at the end.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Most materials are subject to copyright.
[Item Description] Washington State University Football Scrapbooks, 1912-2000 (UA 306)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
This collection was donated to the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) on May 6th, 2011 by Bruce Burks of Bellevue, WA. His father, Bob Burks, originally compiled the scrapbooks.
This collection was processed by University Archivist Mark O'English in May 2011.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.