Oregon State College "Ironman" Bill Tomsheck, 1933.
As a left guard on the legendary OSC "Ironmen" football team of 1933, Bill Tomsheck
inspired the kind of fear in his opponents that helped the team to defeat top-ranked USC
in 1933. Tomsheck's participation in one of the best football teams the university has ever
produced is the focus of the Bill Tomsheck Scrapbook which includes correspondence, newspaper
clippings, greeting cards, and photographs. The Archives also has materials pertaining to fellow
Ironman teammate Ade Schwammel. [MSS-Tomsheck, Bill,
Scrapbook, OSU Archives]Assembled by alumnus Bill Tomsheck, this scrapbook documents Tomsheck's experience as a student at Oregon State College. Primarily pertaining to his participation in the legendary 1933 football team, the scrapbook includes correspondence, game programs and schedules, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The newspaper clippings, cut from The Barometer, The Oregonian, and The Oregon Journal, focus mostly on the games of the 1933 season as well as profiles on Tomsheck and other members of the team. There are materials in this scrapbook which also document Tomsheck's involvement in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, including photos of the house at OSC.
Born in Harvey, Illinois, Bill Tomsheck came to Oregon State College in 1931 to study agricultural science. Attracted by the promise of a athletic scholarship to defray tuition and other costs, Tomsheck joined the football team as a starter in his sophomore year. Staying on the team for his third year at OSC, Tomsheck played left guard as part of a legendary line-up of players known as the "Ironmen." The 1933 "Ironmen" team was 6-2-2, including a victory over eastern power Fordham and a 0-0 tie with defending Pacific Coast champion University of Southern California (USC). The team played the entire USC game without a substitution which ended USC's 26-game winning streak. After graduating in 1935, Tomsheck worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and resided in Portland, Washington D.C., and Salt Lake City before returning to Corvallis in the late 1960s after retirement. Tomsheck is the sole surviving member of the 1933 Ironmen team.
In addition to images of Tomsheck in Harriet's Photograph
Collection (#3422), there is also a file
in the Memorabilia Collection. A taped interview with Tomsheck featured on the 1991 history of OSU
athletics "A Look Back at the Orange and Black" can be found in the
Intercollegiate Athletics
Film and Videotape collection
(P 31). The Archives also has a manuscript collection for fellow
Ironmen teammate Ade Schwammel.
Shelf Location
SR 3/6/3/i (12x17 oversize box)
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