Legacy of the Twenty Six: A Celebration of the First 100 Years of the Multnomah Athletic Club

Founded in 1891 to field and support an amateur football team, the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club ("the MAC") is the nation's third oldest and still largest athletic club. Through its first 100 years, the club was home to numerous track and field world-record holders and 36 Olympic medalists, including Erector Set inventor A.C. Gilbert, the first American to win Olympic gold and founder of modern pole vaulting technique. Prior to disbanding in 1926, the MAC football team was the last non-academic amateur team still playing in the nation. The team's demise was reported in newspapers as distant as Ketchikan, Alaska. Called "a nostalgic romp" by the book critic for the Portland Oregonian newspaper, Legacy of the Twenty-six is filled with numerous rare photos and accounts from the earliest days of organized football and other sports. The book will be of interest to anyone with a passion for history and early athletics -- it's not just for club members. Design and production quality earned national awards for the printer. Only 10,200 copies were published for distribution directly to club member households; when new, it was never sold on the open market. Any used copy available today initially belonged to a club member or one of a small number of individuals associated with the book's creation.

"The undertaking is a rather large one...," The Oregonian opined in 1891, "but they have the right spirit and undoubtedly will succeed." From humble beginnings in rented rooms to a 550,000-square-foot clubhouse, the 26 founders of the Multnomah Amateur Athletic club created a non-profit organization that, 100 years later, is home to nearly 19,000 members.