“Few other graduates and members of the faculty of the University of Georgia have received such widely recognized acclaim as Charles Holmes Herty,” is the bold affirmation of UGA historian Robert Preston Brooks.
Herty, ‘86 BPh., is remembered as “the father of football” at UGA and was an internationally acclaimed chemist. A native of Milledgeville, Ga., he earned his doctorate at John Hopkins University in 1890, spent a year as an assistant chemist with the Georgia Experiment Station, and then returned to campus to teach Chemistry. He introduced the sport to students in 1891 and organized the first team which began competition in 1892.
He was the first Athletic Director, being named Director of Physical Culture in 1894. He then led a fund raising effort to enlarge and improve the playing field on the northwest corner of the North Campus which was later named for him. The field had been used for military training and intramural recreation.
After Sanford Stadium was completed, the space became a parking lot until being made into an inviting, beautifully landscaped park featuring a large impressive fountain. A nearby street on the north campus is also named for him.
As a chemist, he is credited with revolutionizing the southern forestry and naval stores industry. Among his later honors were honorary degrees from five of the nation’s major universities.
Charles Holmes Herty
After teaching at UGA, Herty held a position with the Bureau of Forestry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He later taught at the University of North Carolina and held other prominent professional posts.
He made two major discoveries that are considered his greatest scientific contributions. The first had to do with the technique of extracting resin from pine trees that came into major use and saved the turpentine producers many millions.
The other contribution was the discovery and proof that the ordinary slash pine so prevalent in the Southeast made excellent paper. This resulted in the erection of numerous great plants in the South for the manufacture of paper, many in Georgia.
As a consequence, farmers found a ready market for fast-growing small pine trees; corporations operating the plants introduced conservation practices to protect pine forests, and millions of dollars in payrolls were distributed.
Herty Field today is an attractive, inviting place of refuge – a far cry from the old, stoney field where military cadets once drilled and students romped before the site became a graveled –then asphalt parking area.
Dr. John Stegeman entitled his book about the beginning of football at UGA “The Ghosts of Herty Field.” Today’s “field,” named for one of our greatest alumni, offers an idyllic setting—especially in the late evening—for these friendly ghosts to rendezvous.
