This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/24/2018
Very nice collection of University of California-Berkeley plaques, certificates and yearbooks from 1948 Olympic Gold Medalist Lloyd Butler. Butler was a WWII veteran who attended Cal-Berkeley after his discharge from the service. While never having seen a racing shell before his freshman year at Cal, Butler went on to row for legendary coach Ky Ebright whose boats had already won Olympic gold at the 1928 and 1932 Games. Ebright’s 1948 team won the Pacific Coast Championships and then took the Nationals and U.S. Olympic Trials, giving them the honor of representing USA at the 1948 London Olympics. At the Games, Butler and his crew won gold in the Eight Oared Shells event, the third and last Olympic gold Coach Ebright would win before his retirement.
The first piece is a 1947 dated certificate awarding Lloyd Butler the right to wear the coveted Cal-Berkeley varsity “C.” The 7½" x 9¼" document shows just slight wear from age. The second piece is a 15" x 17½" wood-mounted Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame plaque awarded to the 1948 boat crew that won the gold medal at the London Olympics. The third piece is Butler’s personalized California Hall of Fame plaque. This plaque measures 9" x 12" and had a golden medallion mounted to the front with an engraved brass plaque bearing “1948 Crew Lloyd Butler, #4.” Completing this lot are two programs commemorating Butler’s famous Cal boat that won gold in '48.
LOA from Butler family.