Joseph Atherton Gilman was an All-American football player at Harvard University. ^{[1] [2]} A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Gilman attended Exeter before enrolling at Harvard. ^[3] As a freshman, Gilman played on Harvard's freshman football team in 1912, and varsity in 1913. ^[4] In his third year at Harvard, he was declared ineligible due to poor academic performance. ^[5] He returned to Harvard in 1915 and "came through in a marvelously gritty manner, winning his old position at tackle back and eventually winning the choice on all the leading selections for All-American tackles." ^[5] Gilman was the first football player from Hawaii to be named as an All-American. ^[6] In December 1915, as a reward for his "plucky comeback," ^[5] Gilman was voted by his teammates as captain of Harvard's 1916 football team. ^{[7] [8]} In March 1916, after being selected as captain, Gilman was expelled by Harvard's Administrative Board due to poor academic performance. ^[9] He died in Honolulu in 1983.

His grandfather was Henry D Gilman of Connecticut. His grandmother, Sarah Atherton ^[10] was the sister of Joseph Ballard Atherton, who relocated to Honolulu from Readville, Massachusetts in 1875. His father, Joseph A. Gilman (1864-1936) was a Honolulu shipping and commission merchant ^[11] who was active in the real estate business in Honolulu, and who died in Berkeley, California.