trunks

This is crew, not swimming. Note the coxswain.

Most of these men appear to be much older than normal university age.

NYT of march 1, 1911, page 12
nyti.ms/43Yr5rC
Lists last names of likely crew members.
New York Tribune of June 26, 1910, page 8
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1910-06-26/ed-...
Provides initials for some of the oarsmen.
Harvard Crimson from 23 May 1912
www.thecrimson.com/article/1912/5/23/triangular-race-in-b...
Also provides some initials

The cox will be the small guy in the front center. H. B. Kimball could be the Henry Joseph Kimball described at history.nycourts.gov/biography/henry-j-kimball/
The photo is from much later, but plausible. The dates of his time at Cornell certainly match.

I’ve just found that Shorpy posted this photo and got plenty of comments, including some with identification help
www.shorpy.com/node/10457

💎💎💎💎

The spy obsession was more from 1912 onwards than 1902, but it may not have been part of that particular bout of hysteria. "Terms of Peace" suggests the end of the Boer war.

In fact it is: One of the posters says "Terms of Boer Treaty"

Presumably referring to the Treaty of Vereeniging, signed on 31 May 1902.

All talking about "Peace" and "Terms of Peace" which will have been the end of the 2nd Boer War which ended in May 1902. It was an unpopular war which had seen the introduction of things such as concentration camps, "scorched earth" and internment which eradicated dramatically support for the war. An impressive array of newspapers - The Newry Reporter, The Newry Telegraph as well as The Irish Times and Independent, The Weekly Freeman. The Newry Reporter of course still exists but no sign of Newry's third local paper The Newry Standard. The same view today - maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hill+street+newry&ll=54.1738...

billh35 And at extreme right on the ground is a poster for the Belfast something - maybe Telegraph?

New York Times (Tue, March 5, 1912): DUNDEE DEFEATS QUAKER PUGILIST; Eddie O'Keefe Loses Contest by Narrow Margin at the Empire A.C

boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=52590&cat=boxer
Although he is described as a Quaker by the Times, boxrec.com's biography says he was Jewish:
"Name: Eddie O'Keefe
Birth Name: Edward Paley
Born: 1891-12-23
Died: 1963-09-00 (Age:71)
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Boxing Record: click


O'Keefe was a brother of fellow boxer Barney Ford.
O'Keefe was of Hebrew heritage, and was one of the many outstanding Hebrew fighters who came out of Philadelphia in the first half of the 20th century. He had over 100 fights in his career and defeated a number of world champions--e.g., Harry Forbes, Jackie "Kid" Wolfe, Johnny Dundee, "Kid" Williams, and featherweight title claimant Joe Coster.
O'Keefe also defeated other outstanding fighters, including Hall of Famer Lew Tendler, Dutch Brandt, Johnny Solzberg, K O Eggers, Louisiana, and many others.

Many of the Fight Record results were taken from the Philadelphia Record, courtesy of historian Chuck Hasson. Most of the other fight results taken from the Philadelphia Item. Regarded as one of the best bantamweights of all-time to come out of Philadelphia by phillyboxinghistory.com"
See also: