Mr. Hamlin is a Huntington, WV Attorney and an alumnus of Marshall University. He was the Quarterback of the 1962 Marshall University Football team and has been a lifetime supporter of the Marshall athletic programs. Following the 1970 Marshall plane crash, as well as Marshalls indefinite suspension from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 1969, Mr. Hamlin became the driving force behind the effort to convince the University's administration to seek membership in some other athletic conference besides the MAC. Hamlin wrote a "white paper" titled "A Future Direction for Marshall University Athletics" which studied the possible athletic conference affiliations Marshall might consider for athletics (the original, and only copy having been lost). The "white paper" is summarized in a two-part Huntington Advertiser newspaper series that is included in the Collection. The bulk of the Collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper articles and editorials, and research materials related to Marshall Universitys struggles in football before and after the plane crash, and Hamlins efforts to have Marshall seek athletic conference affiliation with the Southern Conference. Other materials in the Collection are related to the formation of the MU School of Medicine and the construction of the MU Multi-Purpose Facility (Cam Henderson Center). The Collection also contains other materials from the time period including the MU Alumni Association, the Big Green Club (later the Big Green Scholarship Foundation), the MAC, and other miscellaneous papers, news clippings and ephemera. Additionally, Mr. Hamlin has included an essay written by his uncle, the late William F. Blackburn, Jr., entitled "The Formation of the Williamson, W. Va. Branch College and Southern W. Va. Community College".
