Welcome to the Vesper Boat Club History Website where you can search through more than 160 years of logbooks, trophies, newsletters, photos and more. Beyond that – through storytelling – we will bring to life the people and pivotal moments at Vesper that have shaped the history of rowing in Philadelphia and the nation.

One example is the behind-the-scenes story of the 1964 Vesper crew that shocked the rowing world at the Tokyo Olympics. Another explains the construction of our boathouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with the other 19^th century clubs of Boathouse Row. 

Yet to come will be stories about the creation of the first Olympic women’s eight at Vesper in 1976, and essays and commentary on the rise and fall of international lightweight rowing, an era in which many Vesper rowers participated and medaled.

Have fun here. You can page through rowing logs dating from the 1870’s into the 2000’s searching for friends and rivals  – or ancestors – and enjoy comments scrawled in the log. Look through John Hooten’s cartoons, so appropriate to rowing and to life. Or read the old minute books to see the 19^th century squabbles over deadbeats, orders of whisky and cigars, and ever-changing uniforms.

If you’re a student of history, the database offers opportunities for digging up your own stories and research projects.

Please keep coming back. More and more will be uploaded here. And get in touch if you have artifacts to share.

As we at Vesper say, “All Together.”