William Hunlie Craighead (1877-1940) enrolled in 1901 as one of the first Black students at Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts at Amherst). He made the varsity football team as a freshman, and became the team captain in his senior year in 1905, graduating with the class of 1906. He is thought to be the first or second Black football captain at a primarily white college, according to the university.

This photograph shows Craighead practicing with the Massachusetts team, second from left on the offensive line. The scoreboard in the background records all of the team's victories from the 1901 season through December, placing the date of this image in 1902.

With--the scrapbook in which this photograph was found, kept by the family of Charles Parker Halligan (1881-1966). Halligan was a white Massachusetts student who played football alongside Craighead through his 1902 graduation, then served as Craighead's coach for the 1903 season. Most of the album contains photographs of Halligan's family members, but several images are football-related. Among them is a printed team photograph clipped from the school's newspaper or yearbook, probably 1903, with Craighead identified by caption in the center.