George Pinneo portrait (August 21, 1902)

This is a black-and-white portrait of Springfield College alumnus George Melvin Pinneo (class of 1904).According to a note on the back, the photograph was taken on August 21, 1904 in Hastings, Nebraska. George Melvin Pinneo (July 4, 1875 – April 1943) spent two years at Northwestern University, before attending Springfield College. After graduating in 1904, he worked as a physical director YMCA in Gary, Indiana, and served on the Association’s Commission on Health Education. According to the July 1916 issue of the Library Occurant, Pinneo owned a collection of Native American materials valued at over $500 (roughly $11,300 in 2014). He was an AAU Champion who coached the American Olympic wrestling team that competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. The United States won one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals in wrestling at these games. During his later years, he worked at a YMCA in Grand Rapids, Michigan. George Pinneo died at the age of sixty-seven in Sheldon, Illinois