The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship.[2]Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor,[3] funding the foundation via his ownership of Helms Bakery.[4] Bill Schroeder founded the organization with Helms and served as its managing director.[5][6] The men were united in a love of amateur athletic competition.[7]
The organization became well known for presenting awards and trophies for local, national, and international competition, naming the Southern California Player of the Month and Year, national championships in college basketball and college football, Rose Bowl Player of the Game, Coach of the Year, Pacific Coast football player of the year, and other such awards for athletic achievement. Schroeder described himself in 1967 as a "committee of one" in selecting the championship teams.[8] The organization dedicated Helms Hall in 1948, which housed a museum for sporting artifacts as well as the Helms Hall of Fame.
Following the death of Paul Helms in 1957 and the eventual closure of Helms Bakery in 1969, Schroeder sought new benefactors. The organization continued under a series of new sponsors as the United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation, Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation, and First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation. Schroeder died in 1987. Under the direction of Peter Ueberroth the Helms Athletic Foundation collection, library, and archives were absorbed into the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, later renamed the LA84 Foundation.
History
Founding
Schroeder brought to the partnership a large personal collection of sports memorabilia.[6][1] He sought a corporate sponsor to finance a hall of fame to house his collection and to present awards to local athletes.[6][7]
The idea was taken seriously by Paul Helms, who was himself invested in athletics both personally and professionally.[7][2]The bakery with which he made his fortune was a sponsor of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics,[2] and "Helms Olympic Bread" continued to be associated with the competition. The organization was originally known as the Helms Olympic Athletic Foundation.
In 1936, with Helms' backing, Schroeder set to work from a rented office in downtown Los Angeles.[7] As the organization's only employee, he issued frequent announcements of the selections he made for the Helms Athletic Foundation's various and numerous awards.[9]
Helms Hall
The organization dedicated Helms Hall in 1948.[9][1] The purpose-built building adjacent to Helms Bakery near Culver City housed a museum for the sports artifacts originally collected by Schroeder, as well as the Helms Hall of Fame.[7]
After Paul Helms' death in 1957, his family continued supporting the organization until 1969, when the bakeries went out of business.[12][5] Schroeder found a new benefactor in United Savings & Loan,[12] and the organization's name became United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation.[13][14] United merged with Citizens Savings & Loan in 1973, when the organization became the Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation.[12] It was again renamed in 1982 when First Interstate Bank assumed sponsorship, and it became the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation.[15][16]
When the Helms Foundation dissolved, its historical holdings were absorbed into the collection of the Amateur Athletic Foundation, renamed the LA84 Foundation in 2007.
The Helms Foundation began releasing Schroeder's national championship selections for college basketball in 1943, when in February 1943 it published his retroactive picks for the national champion for each year from the 1919–20 through 1941–42 seasons.[3][18][17] Later in 1943, Schroeder picked a national basketball champion for the 1942–43 season, and he continued to select national basketball champions for the Helms Foundation annually through the 1981–82 season, its final year of selections.[19] In 1957, the Helms Foundation also released Schroeder's retroactive picks for the college basketball champions for the 1900–1901 through 1918–19 seasons.[17] The retroactive Helms national championships from 1900–01 through 1941–42 were the opinions of one person about teams that played during an era when, due to factors outside their control (e.g., minimal schedules, lack of intersectional play, differing rule interpretations, minimal statistics), it is difficult to know or assess the relative strength of the teams.[19][self-published source?]
The National Invitation Tournament began play in 1938 and the NCAA tournament in 1939; until at the least the mid-1950s, the NIT was widely considered the more prestigious of the two.[20] When Schroeder made his first set of retroactive championship picks in February 1943, he chose the NIT winner as the national champion for 1938 and 1939; for 1940, he chose USC (which won neither tournament that year); and for 1941 and 1942 he chose the NCAA Tournament winners as the national champion. After he began making annual picks in 1943, he selected the NCAA Tournament winner in every year except 1944 (when he picked undefeated Army, which won neither tournament) and 1954 (when he picked undefeated Kentucky, which won neither tournament). Thus, through the final Helms selection in 1982, NCAA Tournament winners Oregon (1939), Indiana (1940), Utah (1944), and La Salle (1954) were the only NCAA champions that were not also Helms champions. Some schools claim a Helms selection as a national championship.[a]
Year
Team
Record
National Collegiate Champions[17] (Part I, published 1957)
Teams listed in italics indicate retroactively applied championships.
^"A 'championship' is something that is won, most generally on the field of play against direct competition. A 'title' is something that is given or awarded by someone else, in honor of an achievement or as a designation of being considered the best at something. While it is generally true that winning a championship also involves a title being associated with it, the converse does not always hold. In many cases, a title can be given without a formal championship or competition being held at all. In other words, being awarded a title does not necessarily confer that a championship was even present much less attained. In earlier years of collegiate basketball, there are many titles that can be claimed, some which are associated with winning a tournament (e.g. NCAA Tournament or NIT) and some which are not (Associated Press #1, highest attendance, top Sagarin Rating). The latter do not constitute a championship. It is into this group that the Helms title falls."[19] — Jon Scott, BigBlueHistory.net
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Helms Athletic Foundation selected players, coaches and administrators from 1950 through at least the 1970s to its pro football hall of fame.[58][59][60] Contrary to other halls of fame, some members were selected during their active playing/coaching careers.
Canton Bulldogs (1915–1917, 1919–1920, 1926) Cleveland Indians (1921) Oorang Indians (1922–1923) Rock Island Independents (1924, 1925) New York Giants (1925) Tampa Cardinals (1926) Chicago Cardinals (1928)
Philadelphia Eagles (1945) Pittsburgh Steelers (1945) Los Angeles Dons (1947–1948) New York Giants (1949, 1954–1957) Los Angeles Rams (1953) Los Angeles Chargers / San Diego Chargers (1960; 1964) Dallas Texans (1961) Green Bay Packers (1961) Oakland Raiders (1962)
Duluth Eskimos (1926–1927) Pottsville Maroons (1928) Chicago Cardinals (1929–1933) Chicago Bears (1934) Green Bay Packers (1935–1936) Pittsburgh Pirates (1937–1938)
^Class of 1960 selections were named in January 1961.
^Reeves also received a "special award" for his "contribution to professional football in Los Angeles" during the 1950 inaugural class ceremony, but wasn't inducted at the time.[59]
World Trophy
The Helms World Trophy,[85] originally known as the Helms Award[86] and also referred to as the Helms Trophy,[87] was an annual sporting award established by the Helms Athletic Foundation from 1939 to honor the foremost amateur athlete of each continent of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.[88]
Although the Foundation was established in 1936, the awards date back to the 1896, the year of the first Summer Olympics.[89][90]
After the initial committee selection, amateur athletes were nominated by their own countries for consideration by the foundation. Winners were presented with a silver plaque and had their names added to the World Trophy that was located at the Helms Foundation, and subsequently the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (now known as the LA84 Foundation). Winners can only win the award once.[91]
^Thus, the name was a misnomer, as there actually was no foundation in place to sustain the operation.
^ abJares, Joe (September 7, 1970). "A Baker's Dream Needs Dough". Sports Illustrated. pp. 18–21. Retrieved November 22, 2022. Sparked by a sports fanatic and sponsored by a Los Angeles baker, the Helms Hall achieved world renown, but it soon may be only history too, for it can find no new backers and eviction day is coming.
^ abcdeMcBride, C. E. (January 13, 1951). Written at Los Angeles. "Two Men's Love of Athletics Led to the Helms Foundation". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City. Retrieved November 17, 2022. Bill Schroeder had an idea for promoting sports competitions and presenting awards and Paul Helms had wealth to make the program possible.
^ abJenkins, Dan (September 11, 1967), "This Year The Fight Will Be in the Open", Sports Illustrated, vol. 27, no. 11, Chicago, IL: Time Inc., pp. 28–34, retrieved March 16, 2016, The director of Helms since its beginning, Bill Schroeder, did the work, and he now heads the committee that selects No. 1 after the bowl games. "A committee of one—me," he says.
^ abMcConnell, Jim (August 19, 2008). "Helms bread rose from Olympic ties". Long Beach Press Telegram. Long Beach, California. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
^ abcde"Slants on Sports: Helms Foundation Basketball". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. June 8, 1962. Retrieved November 19, 2022. The selections cover from 1900 to the present, but they have been made annually only since 1943. The 1920–1942 selections were made early in 1943, and the 1900–1920 data was not compiled until 1957, and then only after exhaustive study.
^ ab"Wildcats of 1933". Lexington Herald–Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. February 25, 1943. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
^Fraley, Oscar (April 7, 1943). Written at New York. "Wyoming Hailed as Team of the Year". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. United Press. Retrieved December 26, 2023. An exhaustive survey completed by the Helms Athletic foundation of Los Angeles awarded the college team crown to the Cowboys of Wyoming [...] won 30 of 32 games this season to succeed Stanford as national champion. [...] won the NCAA championship and then topped it off by defeating St. John's, New York national invitation tournament kings, for the mythical championship of the nation.
^Fraley, Oscar (April 6, 1944). Written at New York. "In Cage Selections Made By Helms Foundation Army Is Voted Top Quintet". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. United Press. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Army was rated as the nation's No. 1 team despite the fact that Utah's Cinderella Kids won mythical national honors in postseason tournament play which was ruled out for the Cadets.
^"Aggies Bring Home More Caging Honors". The Daily Oklahoman. April 6, 1945. Retrieved December 27, 2023. The annual basketball selections of the Helms Athletic Foundation were announced Thursday and the Oklahoma Aggies, undisputed national champions, made an almost-clean sweep of the laurels. [...] Aggies—Ranked No. 1 team of nation. [...] The designation of the Aggies as the country's foremost team did not automatically follow winning the NCAA crown, for last year the Helms foundation picked Army, which does not enter post-season playoffs. The Aggies are the first Oklahoma outfit to be named No. 1 by Helms.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Player, Team of Year! Kurland, Aggies No. 1 for 1946". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City. April 8, 1946. Retrieved December 27, 2023. ...and the Aggies have been ranked the No. 1 team in the nation, although that is just a formality.
^Shropshire, Larry (April 18, 1947). "1947 Helms Foundation Annual Basketball Report, Out Today". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved December 27, 2023. with its nomination of Holy Cross as the No. 1 quintet in the nation the past season, is perhaps as good as any for an 'official' rating on college cage outfits. Here is the Helms final rating of the top 10, including three teams which participated in the invitation tourney and six in the NCAA
^"Kentucky Is Rated National Champion". The Lexington Herald. April 6, 1948. Retrieved December 27, 2023. The foundation recognized Kentucky as national champion. This was the third time the Helms Foundation has recognized Kentucky as the best in the nation. The Wildcats were honored first in 1933 and again in 1946.
^Ruby, Earl (April 5, 1949). "Kentucky Repeats With 'Double' In Helms Foundation Awards; All Hats Off to Rupp and 'Cats". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2023. the Helms Athletic Foundation announced that the Wildcats had been named the collegiate championship team of the year [...] The school will receive the team trophy [...] Kentucky was named 1949 National college champion.
^Ashford, Ed (April 4, 1950). "Helms Rates Arizin Top Player, CCNY No. 1 Quintet". The Lexington Herald. Retrieved December 27, 2023. Selection of CCNY as the nation's top team was not difficult after the Beavers made an unprecedented sweep of the NIT and NCAA tournaments.
^Boeck, Larry (April 14, 1951). "Bill Spivey Is Named Player Of The Year". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved December 28, 2023. [The Helms Athletic Foundation] also selected the Kentucky Wildcats as the nation's No. 1 quintet. Kentucky previously had won the No. 1 spot in 1933, 1948, and 1949.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Helms Foundation Confirms I.U. Title". The Indianapolis News. Indianapolis. April 7, 1953. Retrieved December 26, 2023. The Helms Athletic Foundation has confirmed the results of the NCAA tournament by declaring Indiana University's basketball team its national champion for the 1952–53 season. Although Indiana also won the NCAA title in 1940, the Helms Foundation that year handed its national championship to Southern California because of what it called a more impressive record for the entire season.
^"Helms Bypasses La Salle — Kentucky Named Top Team". The Daily O'Collegian. April 1, 1954. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Although La Salle won the NCAA title, and Holy Cross the National Invitational crown, Helms Athletic foundation has elected to hand the national championship honors for the 1954 season to the University of Kentucky's undefeated in 25 games Wildcats.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Helms Names Kentucky National Champion 6th Time". The Lexington Herald. Lexington, Kentucky. April 3, 1958. Retrieved December 26, 2023. In a release prepared for Thursday, a Helms spokesman said that with West Virginia (26–2), Cincinnati (24–3), Kansas State (22–5), San Francisco (24–2), and Temple (27–3) failing in tourney play, there wasn't much else to do but hand national collegiate basketball team honors to the University of Kentucky, which emerged victoriously in the NCAA event, downing Seattle 84–72 in the finals.
^Whitlock, Chuck (April 3, 1966). "The Texas Western Miners are the 1966 college basketball champion". El Paso Times. Retrieved December 28, 2023. The Helms Athletic Foundation has announced the Miners as the national champion, confirming the NCAA title which the Miners won with their skills and talents and abilities at College Park, Md. last month.
^"Natt Named To All-American". The Monroe News-Star. April 1, 1977. Retrieved December 28, 2023. UCLA's senior forward Marques Johnson was named Player of the Year on the team and Marquette was selected as college basketball's top team.
^ ab"National Champion Major Selections (1896 to Present)". 2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records(PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114. Archived(PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^ abNational Football Champions. Los Angeles, California: Helms Athletic Foundation. August 1, 1942. This concise Football Record, presenting annual National Football Champions since 1883, and their records; [...] is the result of more than a year of industrious research.
^ abcdefg"Coast Elevens Held National Title Five Times Since 1883". The Sacramento Bee. August 11, 1942. Retrieved December 29, 2023. The Helms Athletic Foundation has prepared a publication which includes a list of the annual American football championships since 1883. The publication also carries Deke Houlgate's annual selections of the best eleven in the country since 1926.
^ abcd"They Were Number One — College Football's National Championship Teams — * As Chosen By Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation" (Press release). Los Angeles: Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation. March 15, 1973. As the result of its 1973 appraisal, the Athletic Foundation took the privilege of granting co-championship recognition to Stanford with Alabama in 1926; Notre Dame with the U.S. Military in 1946; Michigan with Notre Dame in 1947; and Ohio State with UCLA in 1954.
^"Badgers Rated Nation's No. 1". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. January 11, 1943. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Name Army Gridmen National Champions". Republican and Herald. Pottsville, Pennsylvania. United Press. January 11, 1945. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^"Helms Board Tabs Bagnell Year's Best". The Los Angeles Mirror. Los Angeles. December 11, 1950. Retrieved November 18, 2022. the Helms board selected Oklahoma as mythical national champion
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Group Names Huskies Best". Spokane Chronicle. Spokane. Associated Press. January 14, 1961. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
^"Helms Selects Alabama No. 1". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. January 6, 1962. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Helms Picks Trojans As No. 1 Grid Team". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. Associated Press. January 16, 1968. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "'Horns Hang Helms Award On Crowded Trophy Tree". Austin American–Statesman. Austin, Texas. January 9, 1970. Retrieved November 2, 2022. Four members of the five-man Helms panel voted UT the nation's top team
^"Huskers Claim Helms Trophy". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. January 7, 1971. Retrieved November 1, 2022. The United Savings–Helms Athletic Foundation college football national championship trophy will be presented to Nebraska in the near future.
^"Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation 1975". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City. January 9, 1976. Retrieved November 14, 2022. The Citizens Savings Athletic Foundation, formerly known as the Helms Athletic Foundation, has named Oklahoma and Ohio State national co-champions for the 1975 season.
^ ab Written at Los Angeles. "Helms Foundation Starts Football Hall Of Fame". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. Associated Press. August 2, 1950. Retrieved February 9, 2023. The Helms Hall board, consisting of seven Los Angeles area sports editors, selected 25 of the "greatest professional footballers of all time" as the first to be honored.
^"Four Pro Stars Honored by Helms". Los Angeles Times. October 17, 1951. Retrieved December 24, 2024. Selection of this quartet of stars brings to 29 the number of grid greats elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Wojciechowicz, Nesser And Neale Are Named To Pro Hall Of Fame". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. United Press. October 7, 1952. Retrieved February 13, 2023. The new players brought the total of players [sic] honored by the foundation to 32.
^"Bob Waterfield, Frankie Albert Make Hall Of Fame". The Fresnoo Bee. December 12, 1952. Retrieved December 24, 2024. The Helms Hall board in electing the pair to the hall of fame said they did so at this time in order that Waterfield and Albert might be honored at their concluding games. The selection of Albert and Waterfield brought to 34 the number of pro football greats honored by Helms Hall.
^"Graham, Fears, Van Buren Named". Los Angeles Times. January 13, 1956. Retrieved December 24, 2024. The selection of Fears, Graham and Van Buren brings to 37 the number elected to the Helms Hall of Fame.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "Hirsch Named to Hall of Fame". Honolulu Advertiser. Honolulu, Hawaii. United Press. November 9, 1957. Retrieved February 9, 2023. Five stars of the gridiron today were elected to the Helms Athletic Foundation professional football hall of fame, bringing to 42 the number to receive the honor.
^Williams, Coy (August 21, 1959). "Elect George Marshall to Pro Hall of Fame". Los Angeles Mirror. Retrieved February 9, 2023. He was named to the Helms Hall pro football Hall of Fame as an outstanding contributor to the game—the second non-player to be so honored. ... Ray Bray and George Musso, ex-Chicago Bears, and Charlie Conerly, Giant quarterback, were also named today, bringing the player list to 40. Four coaches, George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Greasy Neale and Steve Owen, were selected earlier.
^ Written at Los Angeles. "8 Gridders Make Pro Hall of Fame". Honolulu Star–Bulletin. Honolulu, Hawaii. United Press International. January 10, 1961. Retrieved February 9, 2023. Buck Shaw, who bids farewell Sunday to a 39-year coaching career and eight players were named to the Helms Major League Football Hall of Fame. ... were among those honored in the 1960 Hall of Fame selections made by Los Angeles sports writers.
^"Helms Foundation Selects 4 Pros". The Colton Courier. October 3, 1961. Retrieved December 24, 2024. Their names will be engraved upon the permanent major league footbal trophy in Helms Hall to join those of 55 others previously honored.
^"Kiesling, Five Others Picked for Grid 'Hall'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 5, 1962. Retrieved December 24, 2024. Instituted in 1950 the Major League Hall of Fame now has recognized 65, six contributors, five coaches and 54 players.
^"Seven Added to Helms Football Hall of Fame; LeBaron, Layne Picked". Enterprise-Record. October 22, 1964. Retrieved December 26, 2024. The names of seven professional football players today were added to the roster of Helms football hall of fame, bringing the total to 70 [sic]. The hall of fame roster also lists six coaches and seven contributors.
^"All-Round Australians". The Age. December 19, 1999. p. Sport-12. Retrieved May 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Also captained South Australia in Australian Rules state matches six times, and his CV included rave reviews as a baseballer, golfer and player of tennis, billiards and lacrosse, winning the World Trophy (formerly the Helms Award).