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Don Faurot Papers (C2971)

Collection Number: C2971

Collection Title: Papers

Dates: 1919-2004

Creator: Faurot, Don, 1902-1995

Abstract: The papers of Don Faurot, University of football coach and , consisting of correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and publications documenting his life and career.

Collection Size: 1.6 cubic feet (28 folders, 11 video cassettes, 1 audio tape, 21 oversize items)

Language: Collection materials are in English.

Repository: The State Historical Society of Missouri

Restrictions on Access: Collection is open for research. This collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-Columbia. If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected] Collections may be viewed at any research center.

Restrictions on Use: The Donor has given, assigned, and transferred to the Society all copyrights, and associated rights the Donor may possess in the materials.

Preferred Citation: [Specific item; box number; folder number] Don Faurot Papers (C2971); The State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-Columbia [after first mention may be abbreviated to SHSMO-Columbia].

Donor Information: The Don Faurot Papers were donated to the State Historical Society of Missouri by Mary Faurot on April 18, 1999 (Accession No. CA5807). Subsequent additions were made by members of the Faurot family between December 2004 and August 2012 (Accession No. CA6067)

Processed by: Aleksandra Kinlen on June 28, 2021

Historical Note:

Donald (Don) Burrows Faurot was born in Mountain Grove, Missouri, in 1902 to parents Frederick W. Faurot (1870-1965) and Charlotte Burrows Faurot (1875-1951).

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After moving around the state—first to St. Joseph and then to Columbia—Don and his three brothers and four sisters moved back to Mountain Grove, from which he graduated high school in 1920. He went on to the that fall and eventually joined the football team as a punter and halfback by his junior year in 1923, continuing with the squad during his senior year in which they won their conference championship. Alongside football, Don was a basketball and baseball letterman at the University of Missouri and captain of the former his senior year. Because he had another year of football eligibility remaining, he continued to play on the team until graduating with a bachelor’s of science degree in agriculture in 1925. Faurot entered the coaching world that year when he accepted the positions of freshman football, baseball, and basketball coach at his alma mater but shortly after joined the athletic staff at Northeast Missouri State Teacher’s College (Kirksville). There, he coached football, basketball, baseball, and track, leading all of his teams to winning records during his nine years in Kirksville.

Faurot went back to the University of Missouri for two summers while still on the Kirksville coaching staff, completing courses in agriculture that would allow him to garner a master’s degree in horticulture in 1927. That same year he married Mary Frances Davidson (1906-2004), with whom he would have three daughters and one son. His next position was as athletic director and football coach at the University of Missouri, beginning in 1935. His greatest accomplishment in the sporting world was the invention of the “Split-T” formation, revealed in 1941, which led the Missouri team to the Big Six conference title in that same year as well as in 1942. While he was enjoying a successful career as the head football coach at the University of Missouri, he volunteered for naval service in World War II a few months after one of his younger brothers, Robert (Bob) (1917-1943), was killed in action. The Navy was hesitant to take Don because he had lost two fingers on his right hand in a farming accident when he was nine years old, but eventually he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in June, 1943. He first went to the Navy pre-flight school at the University of Iowa, where he served as the for their football team, before he was transferred to Monmouth College in Illinois and then to Jacksonville, Florida, to run physical training at their pre-flight schools. When the war ended in 1945, Faurot was assigned to the commissioning detail aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Brooklyn Naval Yard as the athletic director. Later that year, he returned to Columbia to reclaim the position of head football coach at the university.

At the end of his illustrious coaching career in 1956, his overall record was 101-78-10. Because of Faurot’s immense success combined with alumni support, the were able to expand their stadium—Memorial Stadium—from 24,000 seats in 1935 to 60,000 seats in 1978. The name of the stadium was also changed to in 1972. After retiring as head football coach in 1956, he continued on as athletic director until his mandatory retirement in 1967. From there, he was involved with the Missouri Alumni Association and was secretary of the Missouri Senior Golf Association. Faurot was elected to the Northeast Missouri State University Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, National Football Hall of Fame, the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Hall of Fame, the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor, and the Blue-Gray Game Hall of Honor. He was also a member of the Missouri Squires and past president of the National Football Coaches Association.

Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into the following nine series:

Recognition

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Programs Publications Correspondence Military Photographs Clippings Oversize Audio-Visual

Scope and Content Note:

Recognition

This series consists of awards, certificates, programs, correspondence, and other ephemera surrounding Faurot’s professional achievements and concerning his contributions to the University of Missouri football program.

Programs

This series contains copies of official University of Missouri football programs from 1924-1995, chronologically.

Publications

This series includes miscellaneous publications that are not newspaper clippings or football programs, such as copies of Missouri Alumnus, Missouri, press releases, and academic papers that feature Faurot and the University of Missouri from throughout his tenure as coach. They are provided chronologically from the 1940s-1990s.

Correspondence

This series holds correspondence to and from Faurot and his wife Mary from the 1930s-2000s, chronologically.

Military

This series consists of military papers and correspondence surrounding Faurot’s time in the US Navy from 1943-1945 as well as that of his brother, Robert, who was killed in action in 1943 as a member of the US Air Force.

Photographs

This series includes a collection of photographs from Faurot’s personal and professional life, such as images of football squads, family trips, and local organizations, chronologically from the 1920s through the 2000s.

Clippings

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This series contains newspaper clippings from 1919-2000s that cover Faurot’s achievements as an athlete and coach, the accomplishments of his wife and daughters, and his death in 1995.

Oversize

This series contains three awards presented to Faurot for his contributions to football (1968, 1984), photographs of University of Missouri and Northeast Missouri State Teachers squads from 1926-1956, and illustrations of Faurot (1984).

Audio-Visual

This series includes one audio tape, with a 1970 interview, and videos of football games and related events from 1939-1990.

Container List: f. 1-2 Recognition f. 3-9 Programs f. 3 1920s-1930s f. 4 1940s-1960 f. 5 1961-1972 f. 6 1973-1985 f. 7 1988-1992 f. 8, 9 1995 f. 10-13 Publications f. 10 1940s-1950s f. 11 1960-1965 f. 12 1967-1970s f. 13 1980s-1990s; n.d. f. 14, 15 Correspondence f. 14 1930s-1970s f. 15 1980s-2000s; n.d. f. 16-19 Military f. 20-23 Photographs f. 20 1920s-1950s f. 21 1960s-2000s f. 22, 23 n.d. f. 24-28 Clippings f. 24 1919-1950s f. 25 1960s f. 26 1970s f. 27 1980s f. 28 1990s-2000s

Oversize

Item 1 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1928 Item 2 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College track team, 1927 Item 3 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1927

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Item 4 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1926 Item 5 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1930 Item 6 University of Missouri football squad, 1956 Item 7 Promotional shot in front of campus columns, c. 1950 Item 8 Illustration of Faurot, “Dean of Big Seven,” c. 1950 Item 9 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1926 Item 10 “Big Six Champs” University of Missouri football squad collage, 1939 Item 11 Headshot of Faurot, c. 1950 Item 12 Faurot with other coaching staff in downtown Columbia, c. 1950 Item 13 Headshot of Faurot, c. 1950 Item 14 Faurot in bleachers with other coaching staff, c. 1950 Item 15 Faurot with players in a huddle, c. 1950 Item 16 “Don Faurot—A Legend” print, 1984, with information sheet Item 17 Honorary lieutenant colonel aide-de-camp certificate from the State of Alabama, 1968 Item 18 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Missouri, 1984 Item 19 Faurot and University of Missouri football squad in Los Angeles, 1924 Item 20 Distinguished Service Award from Montgomery, Alabama, 1968 Item 21 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College football squad, 1928

Audio-Visual a.t. 1 Interview, 1970 v.c. 1 Navy game, 1948; , reunion; SMU game, 1948 v.c. 2 Season highlights, 1941-42; , 1942 v.c. 3 v.c. 4 Football shows, 1939 v.c. 5 Football shows, 1948 v.c. 6 50th Reunion, 1939 Orange Bowl team, 1989 v.c. 7 100th Anniversary: MU Football, 1890-1990 v.c. 8 BBQ with coaches Faurot & Stull; interview with Sam Francis, 1989 v.c. 9 MU plays, 1941-1942 v.c. 10 MU Athletics Hall of Fame, 1990 v.c. 11 MSU game, 1941; Fordham game (Sugar Bowl), 1942

Index:

Index Term Folders Image Mediums Faurot, Donald B., 1902-1995 1-28 Faurot, Donald B., 1902-1995 20-23 Yes items 1-21, a.t. 1, v.c. 6-8, 10 Faurot, Jay L., 1913-1948 24 Faurot, Mary F., 1906-2004 14, 15, 24-28 Faurot, Mary F., 1906-2004 20-23 Yes Faurot, Robert L., 1917-1943 16 Football--Coaching 1-28 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College 14, 20, 24 items 1-5, 9

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Index Term Folders Image Mediums University of Missouri--Columbia--Football 1-28

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