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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Rodgers McAvoy, Compiler, Clair Bee Research Papers, A&M 3686, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Scope and Contents

Research papers regarding basketball coach and author Clair Bee, native son of Grafton, West Virginia, and a significant influence in establishing the modern game of basketball. The materials were compiled by Rogers Mc Avoy, a professor of Educational Psychology at West Virginia University.

The collection contains seven series: 1. Biographical Information, 2. Student Years, 3.Coaching Career, 4. Writing Career, 5. Photographs, 6. Subjects, and 7. Oversize.

Among the materials are: newspaper clippings, magazine articles, research notes, genealogies, magazines, college marketing publications, census records, school records, wills and deeds, the 1916 Grafton High School Yearbook, correspondence, photographs, excerpts from books, and narratives.

The collection documents Bee family history and Clair Bee's life, including his student years at Grafton High School and Waynesburg College (where he began his coaching career), and his rise in college basketball to become the coach with the highest percentage of wins in college basketball history, a record attained during his 1931-1952 tenure as coach at Long Island University, New York.

There are several clippings and articles (mostly photocopies) regarding the 1951 gambling scandal involving the basketball players of Long Island University, as well as Bee's teaching and mentoring players and young coaches such as Bobby Knight.

There is also information regarding Clair Bee's career as the author of the popular "Chip Hilton" book series for adolescents, and a photocopy of an introduction written by Clair Bee in 1941 for James Naismith's book, "Basketball, Its Origin and Development" (Naismith is proclaimed as the inventor of the modern game).

The Oversize Series contains two issues of "Life Magazine", including the 22 January 1945 issue with three pages of basketball plays, and the 5 March 1951 issue containing an article regarding the 1951 gambling scandal involving players from three major New York colleges, including Long Island University.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Bee, Clair, 1896-1983