Rupert Howard Fike Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss-0034
The Rupert Howard Fike Papers cover the period 1857-2003, with most of the material dating from 1907-1957. The collection contains correspondence and other materials relating to the Fike family; the Steiner Cancer Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and its women’s auxiliary; Clemson alumni; and Clemson athletics, particularly the fundraising organization IPTAY (“I Pay Ten A Year”), the Athletic Council, and football. There is also research for and a draft of an unpublished book “Fifty Some Odd Years of Football at Clemson” written by Fike. Correspondents include Frank Howard, Calhoun Lemon, and James C. Littlejohn; there is also a letter from Margaret Mitchell.
This collection is open to the public without restriction.
Rupert Howard Fike was born on November 25, 1887, graduating from Clemson College in 1908 with a degree in agriculture and animal industry and from the medical school at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee in 1912. He specialized in x-ray diagnosis (radiology) with post-graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic and the Curie Institute in Paris. Fike began practicing medicine in Chesnee, South Carolina and then joined the staff of Steedly Hospital in Spartanburg. Fike observed cancer clinics in England and Europe before becoming roentgenologist and physician-in-charge at Steiner Cancer Clinic in Atlanta from 1921-1944. He was staff roentgenologist at St. Joseph’s Infirmary in Atlanta 1944-1949, and 1949-1956 at Vereen Memorial Hospital in Moultrie, Georgia. Fike is credited with being one of the main organizers of IPTAY (originally standing for I Pay Ten A Year) which was created to raise money for Clemson’s athletic teams, particularly football. He served as president of IPTAY and as an alumni representative on the Clemson Athletic Council from the mid-1930s until 1956. Fike also served as director of the American Society for the Control of Cancer from 1931 to circa 1940. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Clemson College in 1952. Fike married Ethel Lee Ewing (1890–1976) of Knoxville, TN and they had two children: Rupert Howard Jr. (1913-1978) and Eleanor (1916-1988). Fike died on October 30, 1956. Clemson’s Board of Trustees named the school’s field house for Fike in 1966.
5 Cubic Feet
English
The Rupert Howard Fike Papers are a valuable resource for researching athletics and athletics fundraising at Clemson College. Fike was a Clemson graduate and worked as a roentgenologist in Georgia and South Carolina. He was active in athletic affairs and helped found the athletic fundraising organization IPTAY (“I Pay Ten A Year”).
The collection contains artifacts, correspondence, diplomas, a history, memoranda, photographs, reports, scrapbooks and other materials that document his relationships with his family and Clemson University. In addition, the collection provides information on the Steiner Cancer Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia where Fike was the physician-in-charge from 1924-1945.
Alphabetical by folder title. Photographs, scrapbooks and artifacts are filed at the end of the collection.
Calhoun Lemon received the papers from Fike and gave them to IPTAY.
IPTAY transferred papers to the University Libraries in 1983. Eleanor Fike donated the manuscript and the memorabilia in 1984. Correspondence between Henry Tillman and Fike was donated by Henry T. Snead in 1987. Additional papers were donated by Rupert Fike III in 1998 and 2020. Accessions 87-102, 83-033, 84-068, 96-166, 98-084, and 2020-019.
The collection was re-processed and the finding aid created by Susan Hiott in 2013. The collection was again reprocessed incorporating additional material and a new finding aid created by James Cross in 2021.
Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository