This letterman jacket and matching sweater were worn by Poet athlete Bill Lee ’48, described in the 1948 Acropolis as a “stellar guard on the football team.” The gift was made by Lee’s wife Jeanne (Roberts) Lee ’51 and family.
In addition to excelling in sports, Lee was senior class president, Orthogonian social chair, physical education club secretary, and inter-class council member.
A proud Whittier alumnus, Lee supported Purple and Gold and served as class representative for many years, for which he received an Alumni Service Award and recognition chair in 1993. According to daughter- in-law Shari (Bingaman) Lee ’76, in his professional life, Lee was a dedicated educator and retired from the El Monte City School District as assistant superintendent in 1985.
The letterman jacket and sweater are housed in special, acid-free boxes in the College archives, which are temperature- and humidity-controlled in order to protect the Library’s rarest and most fragile items. Librarians are excited to imagine that the jacket and sweater might serve as first pieces in a new archival collection whose scope would include historic, College-related apparel: “Bill Lee’s letterman jacket and sweater from the late 1940s are in stunningly great shape and we’re honored to now be the custodians of these important artifacts,” said Interim Library Director Mike Garabedian ’98, who hopes this donation will inspire other alumni to consider donating similar items.