MichiganToday.net/The Henry Ford/With Liberty & Justice For All Exhibit/Civil Rights Movement/Rosa Parks

Baseball As America Slides

into Henry Ford Museum

March 11 through September 5,

2006

WHY COOPERSTOWN?

From humble beginnings, the

National Baseball Hall of Fame

and Museum has become one of

the nation’s most recognizable

and popular educational

institutions. The Museum is

located in the pastoral village of

Cooperstown in central New

York State, nestled between the

Catskill and Adirondack

mountains, 70 miles west of

Albany, the state capital.

Located on Main Street, the

Baseball Hall of Fame officially

opened its doors on June 12,

1939. Cooperstown represents

a step back in time, with

buildings dating to the early

19th century and orange

geraniums hanging from the

classically-styled streetlights.

More than 350,000 people

travel to the village each year to

pay tribute to our National

Pastime by visiting the Hall of

Fame, an institution which

honors excellence, preserves

history, and connects

generations.

Visitors wonder why this small

village of 2,200 inhabitants

located in central New York

State should be the home of

Baseball's Exciting Showcase.

The answer to this often-asked

question involves a commission,

a tattered baseball, a

philanthropist and a centennial

celebration.

THE MILLS COMMISSION

The Mills Commission was

appointed in 1905 to determine

the origin of the game of

Baseball. The committee's

formation was urged by Albert

G. Spalding, one of the game's

pioneers, following an article by

Henry Chadwick, a famous early

baseball writer, who contended

that the sport evolved from the

English game of rounders.

Seven prominent men comprised

the commission, including Col. A.

G. Mills of New York, who played

baseball before and during the

Civil War and was the fourth

president of the National

League (1882-1884); Hon.

Morgan G. Bulkeley, former

Governor and then U.S. Senator

from Connecticut, who served

as the National League's first

president in 1876; the Hon.

Arthur P. Gorman, U.S. Senator

from Maryland, a former player

and ex-president of the National

Baseball Club of Washington;

Nicholas E. Young of

Washington, D.C., a longtime

player who was the first

secretary and later fifth

president of the National

League (1884-1902); Alfred J.

Reach of Philadelphia and

George Wright of Boston, both

well-known businessmen and

two of the most famous players

of their day; and the president

of the Amateur Athletic Union,

James E. Sullivan of New York.

During its three-year study, the

committee was deluged with

communications on the subject.

The testimony of Abner Graves,

a mining engineer from Denver,

in support of Abner Doubleday,

figured prominently in the

committee's inquiry. Both Graves

and Doubleday had attended

school together in

Cooperstown. Doubleday later

was appointed to the U.S.

Military Academy at West Point,

graduating in 1842.

Subsequently he served in the

Mexican and Civil Wars.

According to historical records,

he fired the first gun shot as a

captain for the Union at Fort

Sumter, S.C.

In his letters to Spalding,

Graves claimed to have been

present when Doubleday made

changes to the then popular

game of "town ball." As Graves

described the game, one player

tossed the ball straight in the

air, allowing another player to

hit the ball with a four-inch flat

bat. Some 20 to 50 players,

scattered about the field,

attempted to catch the ball

before the batter could run to a

goal 50 feet away.

According to Graves, Doubleday

used a stick to mark out a

diamond-shaped field in the dirt.

His other refinements to the

rudimentary game included

limiting the number of players

and adding four bases (hence

the name, “base ball).

The committee's final report on

December 30, 1907 stated in

part that "the first scheme for

playing baseball, according to

the best evidence obtainable to

date, was devised by Abner

Doubleday at Cooperstown, N.Y.

in 1839."

THE BASEBALL

The discovery of an old baseball

in a dust-covered attic trunk in

1934 supported the committee's

findings. The ball was located in

a farmhouse in Fly Creek, a

village about three miles from

Cooperstown, where the

baseball -- undersized,

misshapen and obviously

homemade – was discovered.

The stitched cover had been

torn open, revealing stuffing of

cloth instead of the wool and

cotton yarn, which comprise the

interior of the modern baseball.

The ball soon became known as

the "Doubleday Baseball."

THE PHILANTHROPIST

Soon after its discovery, the

baseball was purchased for $5

by Stephen C. Clark, a

Cooperstown resident and

philanthropist. Clark conceived

the idea of displaying the

baseball, along with such other

baseball objects as could be

obtained, in a room in the

Village Club, which now houses

the Cooperstown village offices.

The small one-room exhibition

attracted tremendous public

interest. With the assistance of

Alexander Cleland, who had

been associated with Clark in

other endeavors, support was

sought for the establishment of

a National Baseball Museum.

Ford Frick, then president of the

National League, was especially

enthusiastic. He obtained the

backing of Kenesaw Mountain

Landis, Baseball's first

commissioner, and William

Harridge, president of the

American League. Contributions

and historically significant

baseball memorabilia soon

poured in from all parts of the

country as the word spread.

BASEBALL'S CENTENNIAL

Coincidentally, in 1935, plans

were also being formulated for

an appropriate celebration in

Cooperstown to mark Baseball's

upcoming 100th anniversary,

which would take place four

years later. Frick proposed that

a Hall of Fame be established as

part of the shrine to honor the

game's immortals.

The cooperation of the Baseball

Writers’ Association of America

was enlisted to select the

playing greats who were to be

so honored. The first election

was conducted in January 1936

and five players were selected –

Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus

Wagner, Christy Mathewson

and Walter Johnson.

The National Baseball Hall of

Fame and Museum was officially

dedicated on June 12, 1939.

The game's four ranking

executives of the period –

Landis, Frick, Harridge and

William G. Bramham, president

of the National Association –

participated in the ribbon-

cutting. Of the 25 immortals who

had been elected to the Hall of

Fame up to that point, eleven

were still living and each

journeyed to Cooperstown to

attend the centennial

celebration. A baseball postage

stamp commemorating the

occasion was placed on sale

that day at the Cooperstown

post office, with Postmaster

General James A. Farley

presiding.

NEW RESEARCH

After the Commission reported

its findings in 1908, many of the

game’s historians disputed

Graves’ accounts, noting that

many of the innovations he

attributed to Doubleday were

already being practiced earlier in

the 1830s. The discovery in

1999 of the original Mills

Commission papers, long

reported to have been burned,

supports the view of many

researchers that Baseball

developed from, and along with,

other bat-and-ball games earlier

in the nineteenth century. One

day, historians may determine

that Abner Graves’ testimony,

covering a period when the

widely-played game of town ball

was undergoing rapid changes,

captures that point in time when

these changes to the game

arrived in one typical American

community and caused a minor

revolution on the sandlot.

Nevertheless, such a finding will

not diminish the Mills

Commission’s contribution to our

National Pastime a century ago.

By collecting the memories of

many early fans and players

while they were still living, the

committee created a treasure

trove of early baseball history

that would otherwise have been

lost. Moreover, by identifying a

site for Baseball’s origin, the

Mills Commission initiated the

process that ultimately

established a home for the

sport – the National Baseball

Hall of Fame and Museum.

EVOLUTION OF THE MUSEUM

AND LIBRARY

Since 1939, several significant

physical changes have taken

place at the Museum.

Expansions in 1950 and 1980

added much more exhibit space,

while the Hall of Fame Gallery

was dedicated in 1958. In 1994,

the original Library, which had

opened in 1968, was renovated

and connected to the Museum.

In 2002, the Museum began a

three-year renovation to create

a safer environment for visitors,

develop even better handicap

accessible facilities, provide a

smoother traffic flow through

the Museum’s galleries, better

manage and control the climate

for artifacts and provide a

greater presence of interactive

technology for visitors. The

project is expected to conclude

in spring 2005.

Representing all aspects of

baseball – both on the field and

in our culture – the Museum

collections total 35,000 three-

dimensional artifacts (including

bats, balls, gloves, caps,

helmets, uniforms, baseball

shoes, trophies and awards),

and 130,000 baseball cards. All

artifacts in the Museum’s

collections have been donated.

Founded in 1939 as part of the

National Baseball Hall of Fame

and Museum, the National

Baseball Hall of Fame Library is

by far the largest repository of

baseball information in the

world. The Library’s mission is

responsible for the acquisition,

organization, preservation and

dissemination of all archival

material related to the history of

baseball and its impact on

culture and society.

The Hall of Fame Library

contains 2.6 million items,

housed in climate-controlled

areas and maintained by a

professional staff using state-of-

the-art techniques. The photo

collection contains more than

500,000 historic images of

players, teams, ballparks and

other baseball subjects. In

addition, the Library’s film, video

and recorded sound archive

contains more than 10,000

hours of footage dating back to

the early part of the century,

including an extensive collection

of Hollywood movies featuring

baseball.

The Library is a public facility

where numerous researchers

and Museum visitors are served

annually. While the majority of

patrons are independent

baseball fans conducting

research, others utilizing the

facilities in the past have

included such esteemed authors

as George Plimpton, Roger Kahn

and George Will; officials from

many major and minor league

clubs; former big league

players; writers from the New

York Times, USA Today and Wall

Street Journal; television shows

such as Jeopardy; and students

of all ages. Whether it’s simply

answering a question or fielding

a request from the White House

for information for a presidential

speech, the research departed

answers approximately 60,000

research inquiries annually.

THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

TODAY

In August 2000, the board of

directors of the Museum elected

the founder’s granddaughter,

Jane Forbes Clark, chairman.

The year before, Dale A.

Petroskey became the Museum’

s fifth president. Under their

leadership, the Museum has

begun to build an endowment

to ensure its long-term financial

security and has continued to

broaden its educational

outreach. In 2002, Baseball As

America, a national exhibition

tour of select artifacts from the

Museum, opened a four-year

tour to much acclaim at the

American Museum of Natural

History in New York City. The

tour will travel to 10 of America’s

most renowned museums

before its conclusion in 2005.

The national tour of Baseball As

America is sponsored by Ernst &

Young. Published by National

Geographic, Baseball As

America: Seeing Ourselves

Through Our National Game is

the official companion volume to

the tour.

The Hall of Fame’s educational

programs extend the Museum’s

reach to children throughout the

United States. America Grows

Inning by Inning – an extensive

series of thematic lessons –

teaches core curriculum subjects

using the game of baseball as a

“hands-on” foundation for

helping students better learn

key concepts, based upon

national academic standards. In

addition to on-site school visits,

the Museum delivers interactive

programs into classrooms

outside of Cooperstown via

distance learning. Through

partnerships with Ball State

University in Muncie, Ind., and

Project View in Schenectady, N.

Y., one hour to half-day

electronic field trips and

videoconferences have been

enjoyed by more than 60 million

students nationwide in the last

three years.

As part of its public

programming for visitors of all

ages, the Museum also offers an

extensive year-round calendar

of entertaining and informative

events designed for families and

scholars of the sport alike. From

roundtable discussions with Hall

of Fame members to Sandlot

Stories, featuring staff and

visiting experts highlighting the

game’s rich history, to gallery

talks, treasure hunts, concerts,

movies and plays, the Baseball

Hall of Fame presents more than

300 special events each year.

Additionally, Hall of Fame

Weekend, featuring the

Induction Ceremony and scores

of returning Hall of Fame

members, highlights the

schedule of events for the year.

The annual Hall of Fame Game,

featuring two major league

teams in an exhibition contest

at historic Doubleday Field,

draws thousands for an

afternoon game at the home of

baseball.

From its embryonic stages, the

Baseball Hall of Fame has

become an international

destination that chronicles the

evolution of our National

Pastime. From humble

beginnings and a small

collection of artifacts in the mid-

1930s, the Hall of Fame has

evolved into a cultural

showcase, where people come

to learn about the past, and

soon discover that Baseball is

the common thread of our

national spirit.

###

Baseball As America, the most

significant exhibition of baseball

artifacts and history was

organized by the National

Baseball Hall of Fame and

Museum in Cooperstown, New

York, and plays the “final inning”

of its 10-city national tour at

Henry Ford Museum, March 11-

September 5, 2006. The

national tour of Baseball As

America is sponsored by Ernst &

Young.