On May 24, 1843, with the arrival of the shell "Whitehall" in New Haven, Yale University founded the first collegiate crew in the United States. A year later, Harvard founded their boat club. These boat clubs served primarily a social purpose, until Yale's 1852 issuance of a challenge to Harvard "to test the superiority of the oarsmen of the two colleges". Dr. James M. Whiton (Yale 1853) and Joseph Mansfield Brown (Harvard 1853) were the prime movers in bringing about the race. The idea of a race was suggested by James N. Elkins, the superintendent of the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad, during a train journey with Dr. Whiton. The first Harvard–Yale Boat Race—and the first American intercollegiate sporting event—took place on August 3, 1852. In this two-mile (3.2 km) contest, Harvard's "Oneida" prevailed over Yale's "Shawmut" by about two lengths, with Yale's "Undine" finishing third. The first place prize was a pair of black walnut, silver-inscribed trophy oars. The trophy oars were awarded to Harvard by General Franklin Pierce who in 1853 became the 14th President of the United States of America. Today the 1852 trophy oars are the oldest intercollegiate athletic prize in North America.