ClubTimes Digital-July 2021

In 1911, the AAC elected an athletic committee, for which member Al A. Doonan served as chairman. Under his direction and with Bean’s assistance, the AAC produced some of the finest amateur athletes in the South. In his book, East Lake Country Club History, Charlie Elliott explained, “Joe was also the power behind those years when AAC teams, competing with other athletic clubs and top-ranking college teams, won championship after championship and established the AAC in the highest echelon of sports.” Bean was born on March 18, 1874, and became an accomplished baseball player. At the age

1913-1914 Basketball Team with Coach Joe Bean

of twenty and weighing only 113 pounds, he turned professional and played shortstop in the minor leagues. From 1902 to 1903 he played with the New York Giants, then moved to New Jersey where he played until 1909, after which time he managed the ball club. He came to the AAC as athletic director in 1911 and, with the exception of a five-year hiatus between 1938 and 1942, stayed for nearly half a century. “Joe [Bean] was also the power behind those years when AAC teams, competing with other athletic clubs and top-ranking college teams, won championship after championship and established the AAC in the highest echelon of sports.” Charlie Elliott Fred Lanoue, from Springfield College in Massachusetts, where basketball was invented, replaced Bean during the brief hiatus, and he was followed by Ed Shea, who was at the AAC for a year until Bean returned to the club. Under Bean, the physical fitness classes were well attended by notable Atlantans, including former governor John M. Slaton. In the fall of 1949, John T. Foster replaced Bean and was followed by Phil Cady, then Charles Cooper in the fall of 1952. Cooper remained at the AAC until the summer of 1962, when he left to work for a similar country club in South Carolina. He helped build the swimming program and was succeeded by his friend, Buz McGriff, who remained at the AAC for more than thirty years. McGriff was followed by Chip Smith, Darin Armour, Jeff Chandley, and Neil Doldo, who serves as the current athletic director.