Avery Brundage Collection, 1908-82
Avery Brundage was a University of Illinois Engineering alumnus who became the 5th president of the International Olympic Committee, serving as such between 1952 and 1972. He was a defender of amateur sports and a critic of the commercialization of the Olympic Games. The University Archives holds a large collection from his professional career, including papers, correspondence, photographs, and films.
This collection includes numerous boxes about Latin American and Caribbean regional games, such as Pan American Games, Bolivarian Games, and Central American Games, for instance. It also contains several boxes of material about National Olympic Committees (NOCs), with all Latin American and Caribbean nations well represented. This collection includes also Olympic Games Bids, which includes material about Mexico bidding for the XVII Olympiad in 1955, and Argentina’s for the XIX Olympiad, in 1963 (box 207). The Avery Brundage papers also comprise a very extensive collection regarding the Olympic Games held in Mexico City in 1968.
The Avery Brundage Collection, 1908-82, is available at the University of Illinois Archives open to researchers for in-person consultation. The description of every single box and folder contained in the collection and the details of making an appointment are available online.