Samuel Archer

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and educator (1870–1941)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college coach | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1870|12|23}} | birth_place = Chesterfield, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|1|15|1870|12|23}} | death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_years1 = 1898–1901 | player_team1 = Colgate | player_positions = | coach_years1 = 1905–1908 | coach_team1 = Atlanta Baptist | coach_years2 = 1912–1915 | coach_team2 = Atlanta Baptist / Morehouse | overall_record = 35–2–5 | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = | awards = | coaching_records = }} {{Infobox officeholder | office = 5th President of Morehouse College | image = | predecessor = John Hope | successor = Charles D. Hubert<br> ''{{small|As acting president}}'' }} '''Samuel Howard''' "'''Big Boy'''" '''Archer Sr.''' (December 23, 1870 – January 15, 1941) was an American college football player and coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia from 1905 to 1908 and again from 1912 to 1915, compiling a record of 35–2–5.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://morehouseathletics.com/documents/2016/9/15/Media_Guide_2016.pdf|title=2016 Media Guide|publisher=Morehouse Maroon Tigers|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref>

Archer was a graduate of Colgate University, where he and George L. Hayes were the first African Americans to play for the Colgate Raiders football team in 1899.<ref name=colgate>{{cite journal|url=http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/sept2004/early_football.html | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234405/http://www4.colgate.edu/scene/sept2004/early_football.html | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | journal=The Colgate Scene | volume=XXXIII | issue=2 | date=September 2004 | title=Leather helmets and the flying wedge | quote=The 1899 football team included Colgate's first two identified African American players, George L. Hayes (above), Class of 1903, and Samuel H. Archer, Class of 1903. Both men went on to distinguished careers as educators. Hayes retired as superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools. Archer was also the star of the Colgate Debate Team and was chosen as one of six commencement speakers in recognition of his speaking ability and standing as a student. He retired from public life as president of Morehouse College. }}</ref>

He went on to teach mathematics at Morehouse College, and served that institution in many capacities for 33 years.<ref name=obit>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53906521/obituary-for-s-h-archer-aged-33/ | title=Dr. S.H. Archer, Dies, Burial Tomorrow | date=January 16, 1941 | newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution | via=newspapers.com | access-date=June 21, 2020 }}</ref> He was the fifth president of Morehouse from 1931 to 1937.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aafa.galileo.usg.edu/aafa/view?docId=ead/aarl94-017-ead.xml;query=;brand=default|title=The Samuel Howard Archer Collection|publisher=Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> He died in 1941 and is buried in Atlanta's South-View Cemetery.<ref name=henderson>{{cite book|last=Henderson | first=D.L. | title=South-View: An African American City of the Dead | year=2018 | isbn=978-0998577203 | location=Dunwoody, Georgia | publisher=Carrelspin Press | oclc=1048552699 | pages=171–172}}</ref>

==Head coaching record== {{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Atlanta Baptist Tigers | conf = Independent | startyear = 1905 | endyear = 1908 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1905 | name = Atlanta Baptist | overall = 4–0 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1906 | name = Atlanta Baptist | overall = 4–0 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1907 | name = Atlanta Baptist | overall = 5–0–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1908 | name = Atlanta Baptist | overall = 7–0 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Atlanta Baptist Tigers | conf = Independent | startyear = 1912 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1912 | name = Atlanta Baptist | overall = 5–0 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Morehouse Maroon Tigers | conf = Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | startyear = 1913 | endyear = 1915 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1913 | name = Morehouse | overall = 3–1–2 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1914 | name = Morehouse | overall = 5–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1915 | name = Morehouse | overall = 2–0–2 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Atlanta Baptist / Morehouse | overall = 35–2–5 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record End | overall = 35–2–5 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = | legend = no }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Samuel}} Category:1870 births Category:1941 deaths Category:19th-century players of American football Category:Colgate Raiders football players Category:Morehouse Maroon Tigers football coaches Category:Morehouse College faculty Category:People from Chesterfield, Virginia Category:Players of American football from Virginia Category:African-American coaches of American football Category:American academic administrators Category:Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Category:20th-century African-American academics Category:20th-century American academics Category:Burials at South-View Cemetery