THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE HISTORY

The USOC began as a small group, headed by James E. Sullivan, the founder of the Amateur Athletic Union, which entered United States athletes in the inaugural Modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Dr. William Milligan Sloane served as the first president of the committee in 1894. The formal committee, initially named the American Olympic Association, was formed at a meeting in November 1921 at the New York Athletic Club.

 

In 1940, the AOA changed its name to the United States of America Sports Federation and, in 1945, changed it again to the United States Olympic Association. Public Law 805, which granted the USOA a federal charter, was enacted in 1950. This charter enabled the USOA to solicit tax-deductible contributions as a private, non-profit corporation. 

(Pictured: Dr. William M. Sloane (left), member of IOC; member Board of Governors Amateur Athletic Union. Col. Robert M. Thompson (right), President of the American Olympic Committee and largest contributor to the Olympic Fund)

In 1961, when major constitutional revisions were made, the name of the USOA was changed to the United States Olympic Committee. The USOC moved its headquarters from New York City to its present Colorado Springs site on July 1, 1978.

 

(Pictured: This image is from 1960 of 57 Park Ave. in Manhattan, NY. It was the first permanent address for the USOA, which soon after would become named the USOC.)

 On November 8, 1978, Public Law 95-606 (The Amateur Sports Act) was enacted by Congress. It specifically named the USOC as the coordinating body for athletic activity in the United States directly relating to international Olympic family athletic competition, including the sports on the programs of the Olympic and Pan American Games. The USOC was also given the responsibility of promoting and supporting physical fitness and public participation in athletic activities by encouraging developmental programs in its member organizations. 

The Act also included provisions for recognizing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for the sports on the Olympic (winter and summer) and Pan American Games programs and gave the USOC the general authority, on a continuing basis, to review matters related to the recognition of NGBs in the Act. This public law not only protects the emblems of the IOC and the USOC, but also gives the USOC exclusive rights to the words "Olympic," "Olympiad" and "Citius, Altius, Fortius," as well as to Olympic-related symbols in the United States. There is, however, a grandfather clause that enables anyone using the symbols or terminology before September 21, 1950, to continue using them. 

The law also requires all governance councils of the USOC and NGBs to have at least 20 percent membership and voting power by "recent and active" athletes. The law further states: "The Corporation shall be nonpolitical and, as an organization, shall not promote the candidacy of any person seeking public office."