Colby Edmund "Babe" Slater (April 30, 1896 – January 30, 1965) was an American

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who captained the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

that won the gold medal at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. He was a member of the American rugby union team, which won the gold medal in 1920 and 1924.

Biography

Colby Slater was born on April 30, 1896, in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, the son and youngest of four children of John Slater and Louise Slater (born Chenery). With his older brother, Norman, Slater attended Berkeley High School and played for the school's rugby team in 1912 and 1913, winning a state championship in 1912. In 1914, Slater enrolled at the University Farm School in

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of ...

. (The University Farm School was then a branch of the College of Agriculture at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and is considered a precursor to the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, which claims him as an alumnus.) Slater graduated from the University Farm School in May 1917, and enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

shortly thereafter. He served with the

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1919, Slater returned to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and began his career as a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

. In 2011, Slater was inducted twice into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame, as a member of both the 1920 and 1924 national teams. In 2012, Slater was again inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame, but this time as an individual player.

References

External links

Colby Slater at databaseOlympics.comColby E. “Babe” Slater Papers
a
Special Collections Dept.
University Library, University of California, Davis {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Colby 1896 births 1965 deaths University of California, Davis alumni Rugby union players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rugby United States international rugby union players Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics United States Army personnel of World War I Farmers from California Sportspeople from Berkeley, California Rugby union players from California