The tradition of the North American Society for Sport History to have Honor Addresses was begun in 1973 when the first convention was held at Ohio State University. It was decided to have special lectures to honor individuals who have been significant in the development of sport history. The three chosen in 1973 to be so honored and have addresses named after them were John R. Betts, Maxwell L. Howell, and Seward C. Staley. In 1994, the Maxwell L. Howell Address was expanded to the Maxwell and Reet Howell International Address.
The John R. Betts Honor Address
John R. Betts (1917–1971) was a professor of history at Boston College and recognized as a serious cultural and intellectual historian when he died in the summer of 1971. He was also the leading historian of the cultural and social impact of American sport at that time. Among his published articles in sport history are: “The Technological Revolution and the Rise of Sport” (1953), “Agricultural Fairs and the Rise of Harness Racing” (1953), and “Mind and Body in Early American Thought” (1968). His manuscript on the cultural history of sport in America was nearing completion when he passed away. It was published posthumously as America’s Sporting Heritage, 1850-1950. John Betts devoted attention to sport history because the subject stimulated an intellectual curiosity in him and the study of sport history has benefited greatly by his reputable research in the area.
1973 David Q. Voigt, Albright College
1974 John A. Lucas, Pennsylvania State University
1975 Richard D. Mandell, University of South Carolina
1977 Betty Spears, University of Massachusetts
1978 Eliot Asinof, New York City
1981 Richard C. Crepeau, University of Central Florida
1982 Don Mrozek, Kansas State University
1983 Hal Ray, Western Michigan University
1985 Paula Welch, University of Florida
1986 William Baker, University of Maine, Orono
1987 Stephen A. Riess, Northeastern Illinois University
1989 Benjamin G. Rader, University of Nebraska
1991 Stephen H. Hardy, University of New Hampshire
1993 Richard Holt, University of Stirling
1995 Michael Oriard, Oregon State University
1998 Charles P. Korr, University of Missouri-St. Louis
1999 Jules Tygiel, San Francisco State University
2002 Dave Zang, Towson University
2003 Catriona Parratt, University of Iowa
2004 Jeffrey Hill, De Montfort University
2005 Martha Verbrugge, Bucknell University
2008 Samuel O. Regalado, California State Univ.-Stanislaus
2010 Mark Dyreson, Pennsylvania State University
2011 Sarah Fields, Ohio State University
2013 Robert Lipsyte, New York Times
2015 Susan Cahn, State University of New York at Buffalo
2016 Larry R. Gerlach, University of Utah
2017 Rob Ruck, University of Pittsburgh
2021: Elliott Gorn, Loyola University of Chicago
2022: Daniel A. Nathan, Skidmore College
The Maxwell and Reet Howell International Address
Maxwell L. Howell (1927-2014) was born in Australia and participated and coached in international sport. He retired in 1992 from the University of Queensland, where he held the first chair in Human Movement Studies in Australia. Prior to his return to Australia, he had been Director of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Dean of the College of Professional Studies at San Diego State University, and was a faculty member at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta. Max was chosen NASSH president-elect in 1975 and also served as president and past-president.
Reet Ann (Nurmberg) Howell (1945-1993), born in Sweden, completed her PhD at the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focused on Soviet sport, women’s sport, and Australian sport history. Before her death in 1993 from cancer, she (often with Max as co-author) had published fifteen books and more than sixty book chapters and journal articles. Max and Reet Howell were deeply committed to NASSH and their leadership in the early years of the society helped to establish and give credibility to the emerging field of sport history.
1973 Alan Metcalfe, University of Windsor
1974 S. W. Wise, Carleton University
1975 Gerald Redmond, University of Alberta
1976 Earle F. Ziegler, University of Western Ontario
1977 Frank Cosentino, University of Western Ontario
1978 Robert K. Barney, University of Western Ontario
1979 Michael A. Salter, University of Windsor
1980 R. Gerald Glassford, University of Alberta
1981 Barbara Schrodt, University of British Columbia
1984 Alexander J. Young, Dalhousie University
1986 Peter McIntosh, London, England
1988 Randy Roberts, University of Houston
1989 Maxwell L. Howell, University of Queensland
1990 Arnd Krüger, Georg-August University, Göttingen
1992 Donald G. Kyle, University of Texas-Arlington
1994 James A. Mangan, University of Strathclyde-Jordanhill
1996 Dennis Brailsford, University of Birmingham
1998 Richard W. Pound, Montreal, Quebec
1999 Grant Jarvie, University of Stirling
2000 John Bale, University of Keele
2001 Roland Renson, University of Leuven
2002 Gertrud Pfister, University of Copenhagen
2003 Doug Booth, University of Otago
2004 Thierry Terret, University of Lyon
2005 Christiane Eisenberg, Humbolt University- Berlin
2006 Jennifer Hargreaves, University of Brighton
2007 Jinxia Dong, Beijing University
2009 Wray Vamplew, University of Stirling
2011 Bruce Kidd, University of Toronto
2012 Murray Phillips, University of Queensland
2014 M. Ann Hall, University of Alberta
2016 Michael Cronin, Boston College, Dublin, Ireland
2017 Charlotte Macdonald, Victoria University
The Seward C. Staley Honor Address
Seward C. Staley (1893-1991) had a lifetime involvement in sport and for two generations promoted the study of sport and sport history. Spending most of his professional career at the University of Illinois, as early as 1935 he advocated a curriculum of sport as the basis of physical education programs. He authored numerous articles from the 1920s. It was through his efforts that in 1960 the History of Sport Section of the College Physical Education Association was developed. This is of signal importance for it was out of this History of Sport Section that the stimulus for the development of the North American Society for Sport History was started. Until his death in 1991, he worked diligently on an immense biographical project in classifying sport literature. Seward Staley truly invigorated the study of sport and sport history.
1973 Marvin H. Eyler, University of Maryland
1974 Bruce L. Bennett, Ohio State University
1975 Maxwell L. Howell, San Diego State University
1976 Ronald A. Smith, Pennsylvania State University
1977 Margaret Woodhouse, Radford College
1979 Roberta J. Park, University of California, Berkeley
1980 Allen Guttmann, Amherst College
1981 Horst Ueberhorst, Ruhr Universität
1982 Marvin Eyler, University of Maryland & Nancy Struna, University of Minnesota
1983 Alyce Cheska, University of Illinois
1984 Mary Lou Remley, Indiana University
1985 Lawrence W. Fielding, University of Louisville
1987 Melvin L. Adelman, Ohio State University
1988 Mark Harris, Arizona State University
1991 Tony Mason, Warwick University
1992 Patricia Vertinsky, University of British Columbia
1995 Joan Chandler, University of Texas‐Dallas
2000 Peter Donnelly, University of Toronto
2001 Colin Howell, St. Mary’s University
2006 Susan Birrell, University of Iowa
2007 Steven Riess, Northeastern Illinois University
2008 Jan Todd, The University of Texas at Austin
2009 Nancy B. Bouchier, McMaster University
2010 David K. Wiggins, George Mason University
2013 Susan E. Cayleff, San Diego State University
2014 Gerald Early, Washington University in St. Louis
2021: Rita Liberti, California State University, East Bay
2022: Janice Forsyth, Western University