Baseball glove, circa 1910

Today’s post goes out to “the baseball enthusiasts of the community [who] are looking forward to a summer of excellent sport.” That’s how the Washington Post described Rockville’s sports fans in a March 7, 1909 article at the start of the baseball season. On Rockville’s team was second baseman Russell Brewer; here is his glove.

This is a left-handed fielder’s glove, made by the A.J. Reach Co. of Philadelphia. A one-inch strap, or webbing, connects the thumb and forefinger, likely dating it to around 1910. The well-worn leather looks gray, but it was originally white; this glove clearly saw a lot of game use.  It was donated by Mr. Brewer’s daughter, Virginia Brewer Cobey.

The use of gloves in the outfield wasn’t original to the first years of the game; needing a padded glove was viewed as pretty wimpy. (According to this article in the Smithsonian Magazine, one of the first players to wear a glove tried – and failed – to find one that would be invisible to fans.) By the 1880s gloves were accepted equipment, however, and soon inventors and manufacturers were coming up with new and improved gloves (more padding, deeper webbing…) In our 1890s-1900s team photos from Rockville, many fielder’s gloves and catcher’s mitts can be seen.

The owner of this glove, William Russell Brewer (1880-1941), was born in Rockville to John and Virginia Russell Brewer. He attended the Rockville Academy, and by late 1900 had started his career as a bank clerk at the Montgomery County National Bank, a few blocks from his home. In 1910 he married Maude Stalnaker; they stayed in Rockville until 1921, when he resigned his post as cashier at the Montgomery County bank to take a vice-president position with Liberty Trust Company in Cumberland, Md. In the 1930 and 1940 Cumberland censuses, he’s described as a bank president.

But bankers need hobbies just like the rest of us, and “R. Brewer, 2nd base” can be found in newspaper reports of Rockville games from spring 1900 – when, as a Rockville Academy student, he served as “secretary and treasurer” of the school team – through the 1911 season.  In 1901, the Post described the (probably just out of school) team as “considerably elated” over beating the Maryland Agricultural College team; they basically sent out a call for other teams to ‘come and play.’  Throughout the decade they played against other local towns, as well as the U.S. Marine Barracks team, the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital team, a team from Woodward & Lothrop’s department store, and others. This circa 1905 photo, below, shows the Rockville team in uniform; your man Russell Brewer is either the gentleman in front at the far right, or the player behind him.

Circa 1905. Donated by Virginia Brewer Cobey, who identified her father; other players currently unidentified… although: your devoted blogger has become so involved in the lives of deceased Montgomery County residents that she recognizes at least one, maybe three people in the photo. Eddie Dawson is in the back row second from left, and I swear his brothers Harry (in the straw boater?) and Somervell (back row second from right?) are here as well.

Mr. Brewer’s teammates remain fairly steady throughout the 1900-1911 era; it reads as if the Academy team stayed pretty tight after graduation, replacing an equally steady 1890s team sometimes known as the Rockville Athletics. On September 5, 1909, the Post reported,

The Rockville Athletics, who so well represented Rockville on the diamond ten or twelve years ago, and the present Rockville team played at the fair grounds this afternoon and the youngsters got the verdict by the score of 7 to 2. . . . The game was a splendid one, and the old fellows showed that there is a whole lot of baseball still in them.

Russell Brewer played 2nd base for the “present team” in this game, along with his brothers Nicholas, George, and John (and, since we’re tracking Dawsons, Eddie and Somervell; Harry was featured on the 1890s teams, but he didn’t play in 1909).

Who doesn’t enjoy an old baseball team photo? So here are a few more for you: two views of the Athletics*, from 1893 (top) and 1896 (bottom), and Rockville’s African American team, circa 1900. (Donors, and player names when known, can be found in the captions.)

1893 team. Donated by Mrs. W.S. Nicholson. Players: Wardlaw Mason, James Kelchner, W. Frank Rabbitt, Eugene Harriss, Upton B. Dawson, Roger Shaw, Sol Rabbitt, Somerville “Weegie” Bean, Carey Kingdon, W. Brooke Edmonston, Leonard Nicholson, Charles “Sibby” Jones, Harry Dawson. Bat boy, in the center: Mannie (last name unknown). At left in the background is George Meads.

“Amateur Champions of the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, 1895-96,” taken 1896 at the fair grounds. Donated by Mrs. W.S. Nicholson. Players: Eugene Harriss, Charles Jones, [Harry] Dawson, Roger Shaw, Leonard Nicholson, Sol Rabbitt, Mr. Beard, Carey Kingdon, Mr. Hall, Mr. Claggett, Mr. Eagle, James Kelchner, Byron Kingdon. (There’s lots of player overlap between 1893 and 1896… but they have new uniforms.)

Circa 1900. Donated by Rosie Wood; players currently unidentified.

There are even more photos (not only of Rockville!) in our library, along with more information on both white and African American players, playing fields, and game statistics – plus lots of scope for additional research on our local teams. If today’s post whetted your appetite, sports fans, then come on in!

 

*Presuming the “R.A.” on the uniform stands for Rockville Athletics, not Rockville Academy.

 

 

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Athletic Contests, 1917 and circa 1940

Today’s post was going to be on one item, but then it turned into two.  Here’s the later one first: A Silver Badge from the Playground Athletic League of Maryland, awarded circa 1940 to Miss Barbara Walker of Gaithersburg.

3/4 inch diameter

Barbara Walker (later Barbara Kettler Mills, 1924-2007) attended the local public schools, graduating from Gaithersburg High School in 1942. Sadly (for me) we don’t have any yearbooks from her time at GHS, but her daughter noted, “in high school, [my mother] was athletic, especially enjoying basketball.  She played basketball, field hockey, softball and tennis while [in college] at Penn Hall.”

The pin above (donated by Mrs. Kettler Mills’ estate) is undated, but was most likely awarded to Miss Walker sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. The Playground Athletic League of Maryland, though focused primarily on the Baltimore area, sponsored “state-wide activities” such as annual soccer, track and field, basketball, and dodgeball championships.  In addition to recreation, the P.A.L. was also concerned with tracking and improving the health of Maryland’s youth; they held state-wide, school-level “badge contests” to evaluate students’ basic physical fitness.  The 1922-23 Report of the P.A.L. can be read online; here are the standards for the Girls’ Badge Contest, likely very similar to what Miss Walker achieved to earn her silver badge:

The Athletic Badge Test for Girls.
The Playground Athletic League of Baltimore has adopted the following standards which girls out to be able to attain:
First Test for Bronze Badge-
Balancing [on a balance beam] – once in 2 trials.
Leg raising – 10 times.
Far-thrown basket ball – 25 feet.
Second Test for Silver Badge-
Balancing – once in 2 trials.
Leg abduction – 2 times.
Far-thrown basket ball – 35 feet.
Third Test for Gold Badge –
Trunk raising – 12 times.
Volley ball service – 8 times in 10 trials.
Round-arm basket ball throw – 55 feet.

As for the badge itself, it is marked “sterling,” has a sturdy pin-back, and measures .75″ in diameter. The design, by sculptor Hans Schuler, is described in the 1922-23 P.A.L. Report: “The spirit of the League is symbolized in Schuler’s beautiful design for the League’s medal.  Here we have David in the act of slinging the stone at Goliath.  David was the prototype of the Man of Galilee and typified all that rugged honesty, virile character and physical beauty and strength which we all desire for our boys to-day.”  And yes, though a large part of the Report is dedicated to girls’ sports and activities, and a large number of women (including physicians) are included as Board members, staff, and volunteers, the description of the “spirit of the League” only mentions boys.

…That was going to be today’s object. But as I was looking through the 1922-23 report, I noticed a posed photograph similar to the postcard below from our collections, an image which has always puzzled me: A young woman about to throw a large ball, between two lines of spectators, captioned simply “Rockville Md., Badge Contest, May 15 ’17.”

Aha! The young woman in question is doing the “far-throw basket ball” test for an Athletic League badge!  Indeed, the 1917 Report for the Public Athletic League – a direct forerunner to the Playground Athletic League, with many of the same contests, and the same medal design – notes that Montgomery County’s Third Annual Track and Field Championship was “held at Rockville on May 14, 1917.”  Unfortunately the report does not name badge contestants for that year, but it does give the following rules for the “far-throw basket ball” challenge:

-The ball shall be from 14 to 17 ounces in weight. It is thrown from a stand with feet apart, with the toes at the line. The throw is from both hands over the head. Swinging the arms with bending of the trunk is an advantage. The toes or heels may be raised, but a jump is not permitted.  Touching the ground in front of the line or stepping over the line before the throw is measured constitutes a foul. (A foul counts as one trial.) Three trials are given each contestant, of which the best one counts.  Spalding “O” soccer will be the official ball.
-The ball must land within a lane 10 feet wide and must strike the ground at least 25 feet from the throwing line for bronze pin, 35 feet for silver pin.
-This test will be made the day of the county athletic meet.

If you’d like to while away some time, I encourage you to peruse the 1922-23 Playground Athletic League report, and the 1916 and 1917 Public Athletic League reports.  Each one contains lots of information on the history of the two Leagues, the health of Maryland’s children, and the various championship winners, as well as insight on attitudes toward public health issues, African American schools and neighborhoods (by 1922, the P.A.L. included a “colored section”), and the relative strengths and abilities of girls vs. boys.  If that’s not enough, you can also learn how to play End Ball.

 

“Thanksgiving afternoon, after the foot ball game,” circa 1910

No turkeys this year – instead, here’s a photo for your Thanksgiving enjoyment.

This circa 1910 image is mounted on a card, and has a long message on the back in ink:
“This was taken Thanksgiving afternoon, After the foot ball game.  Just use this [the next two lines have been scratched out with a stylus].  No. 1.  Harrison Englang [sic].  No. 2. Sir. Thomas Dawson.  No. 3. Duke of South Dakota.  Yours Truly, L.A. Dawson.  This is entitled The Bon Ton Socials of Rockville.”

This is a pretty fantastic photo, all around.  1) The gentlemen are conveniently sporting a variety of hat and collar styles, making it a nice comparative sample for today’s researchers (a.k.a., me).  2) They gave themselves a funny, if perhaps highly temporary, group name.  3) Dawson spelled his friend’s name wrong – on purpose? – and then someone vehemently erased part of the message – why?  And, 4) It’s Thanksgiving, around 100 years ago . . . and there is football involved.

The pictured gentlemen are Harrison England (1891-1973), Thomas Dawson, Jr. (1892-1944), both of Rockville . . . and here’s where my planned Thanksgiving/Native American Heritage Month post went awry yesterday.  I’d thought that perhaps No. 3 was Bill Ross (1903-?), an Oglala Lakota who came to Rockville in the late 1910s to stay with the family of Hal and Fannie Dawson, and whose story I promised you back in Feburary.  The Dawsons and their children lived for many years on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota; they moved to Hal’s family farm, Rocky Glen, in 1911. Hal and Fannie welcomed Bill “Chief” Ross into their family for a time, and indeed he appears in the 1920 Rockville census as the Dawsons’ “adopted son.”

However, closer examination of the photo makes me think that the third gentleman here is Lawrence A. Dawson (1893-1953), author of the message on the reverse, and oldest son of Hal and Fannie.  I had initially ruled him out because the photo was donated by Lawrence’s daughter, Mary Dawson Gray, but perhaps she took it for granted that we knew “No. 3″ was her dad, without writing it down.  The relative ages of the three young men, the style of their clothing, and comparison with photos of a thirty year old Lawrence and ten year old Bill all point to the “Duke of South Dakota” being Lawrence himself, who came to Rockville* several years before the rest of his immediate family – putting this photo around 1910-12.

Thanksgiving and football have a long-entwined history – there are records of college games held on the holiday as early as the 1870s, and in the DC area Georgetown University’s Thanksgiving Day games were highlights of the season by the late 19th century.  And since I can’t resist a good turkey postcard, here’s a circa 1900 example showing a turkey playing football.

I wasn’t able to find anything about Rockville Thanksgiving Day football games in particular, but our library does include evidence of a possible precedent: The Midget, a one-sheet newspaper published by Rockville youths, reported on November 12, 1908 that “the ‘Uptowns’ and ‘Downtowns’ had a foot-ball game at the Fair Grounds last Saturday.”  (Click the image at left to see the full line-up.) The Downtowns won, 17 to 5, “although the Uptowns had more weight and what was more they had the time-keeper as coach.”   (Alas, our collection of Midgets – and possibly its print-run altogether – is sporadic; no record of a Thanksgiving game has been found in this source.) If any Rockville historians or residents have info, pictures, or records to share, please do!

* Lawrence came east in order to attend school; he stayed with relatives, including his aunt and uncle at our own Beall-Dawson House, where he can be found in the 1910 census.  And don’t worry, I’ll get to Bill Ross’s full story one of these days.

 

Thanks to our summer interns!

Historical Society interns work hard on a wide variety of projects. This past spring and summer we’ve had five students dedicating their time and energy to MCHS needs. You might get to hear from them in person in the near future, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at some fruits of their labors.

Josh, an MCPS student (and repeat intern, our favorite kind!) has been transcribing a 19^th century diary, written by Caroline Miller Farquhar of Norbeck. Carrie’s diaries have been featured a few times before (and one of the earliest volumes is currently on display in our exhibit on Montgomery County women in the Civil War), but there is still this one last volume to transcribe. Thanks to Josh (and the many other students who have taken their turn with Carrie’s peculiar handwriting), we’re almost there.

Two students from GW’s Museum Studies program chose to fulfil their internship requirement here at MCHS. Maggie has undertaken the task of updating the location inventory for our main storage area; in the process, she’s seen many of our artifacts and, I think, learned some interesting new facts about household management in the 19^th century. Here is our brass clock (or spit) jack, a mysterious item which inspired some internet searches. This puppy is worthy of a whole blog post to itself, but for now here’s a quick summary: clock jacks were used to evenly roast meat in a fireplace without too much tending. Once wound up, the clockwork mechanism – shown below – kept the spit (which hung from the bottom) turning.   This brass clock jack, circa 1850, was made by George Salter of England and is thought to have been used at the home of Charles England in Potomac. Ours still has its key, but it’s missing the round spit from which the meat hung; here’s a picture of a more complete one, from the collections of the New-York Historical Society. 

Maggie’s fellow-student Caitlin cataloged a significant portion of our medical book collection, adding the records to our computer database. One entertaining gem is the 1860 edition of Walker’s Manly Exercises and Rural Sports, published in London and owned by George Minor Anderson of Rockville. You will no doubt be delighted to learn, O manly readers, that this fine volume is available as a free ebook, complete with illustrations (for example, the link here takes you to the section on “vaulting” and “pole leaping” – scroll down to the picture, I implore you). Inspired by the artistic gymnastics portion of the London Olympics? Try it for yourself! (Note: MCHS is not responsible for any injuries incurred during Manly Exercises.)

Becky, a recent graduate of UMBC, interned here during the spring semester and stayed on as a summer office assistant. Her current project will be on view at the County Fair next week, as the “Old Timers” have once again kindly lent us space in their building. Becky surveyed our artifact and library collections for an exhibit on entries at both the past and current incarnations of the Fair. It’s good to have interns – they help you get to the things you haven’t yet gotten to, like taking photos of an 1884 knitted bedspread with crochet-lace border, made by Annie H. Settle of Virginia and entered in the “antiques” category of the Rockville Fair sometime in the early 20^th century.

Our fifth intern’s project is not quite ready for the internet yet, but it will be soon! Cathy, a student of the Johns Hopkins online museum studies program – and also a professional videographer – is creating a short promotional video to help MCHS tell the world about all the cool stuff we have and do.

Of course, this only brushes the surface of the many things our interns have done over the past few months. Less ‘exciting’ activities included stocking the shop, scanning photos, cleaning out the Dairy House, labeling newsletters, washing coolers, and dressing a mannequin in a 19^th century gown (well, hopefully they thought that was exciting). Museum work, especially in a small institution like ours, requires a certain willingness to do all kinds of boring and/or unexpected tasks.  The hard work of our interns (and of all our volunteers) helps keep MCHS running – we couldn’t do it without them!

Carrie Farquhar’s diaries donated by Roger Brooke Farquhar, Jr.  The clock jack donated by Warren Conklin.  Exercise book donated by the Anderson family.  Annie Settle’s bedspread donated by Gladys Benson.

 

High school jersey, 1970s

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which reads in part: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”  Essentially: if you let boys do it, you’d better let girls do it too… and while you’re at it, don’t just allow it, encourage equal participation.

Many longer and more thorough reports than mine have been written on the effects of Title IX and its current rate of success.  (Last week’s Gazette had an interesting series, including several local accounts.)  Though much of the popular focus has been on improvements in athletic opportunities, it’s worth remembering that Title IX applies to academics as well.  However, our collections are best suited for an example of the growth of women’s sports in county schools, so until someone donates a nice 1973 shop-class project by their mother or aunt (hint, hint), let’s take a look at a sport uniform.

This cotton/nylon jersey was worn by a currently unknown female student at Northwood High School in Silver Spring, in the mid-late 1970s.  Happily, our library has a large collection of local school yearbooks, and the yearbooks for Northwood in 1973, ‘74, ‘75, ‘76 and ‘78 (sorry, we’re missing a year) give us some clues as to this jersey’s history.  (A full-on study of athletics at any given school requires more sources than just the yearbooks, of course, but I was mostly looking for pictures of uniforms; and hey, yearbooks are fun.)

Northwood High School opened in 1956, closed in 1985 due to declining student-age population in the area, then reopened in 2004 when the neighborhood once again required it.  In the 1970s, the school colors were black and red, and the team name was the Indians.  (Today the colors are the same, but the school mascot is a Gladiator.)  The Arrowhead yearbook gives a hint of the sports available for girls each year*.  In 1973, girls are shown participating only in swimming and gymnastics, though other teams (perhaps intramural) probably existed.  Only a year later, though, there are pages for girls’ tennis, field hockey, basketball, volleyball and softball.  The young women on the basketball teams (just one team at first, later the Junior Varsity team) in 1974-1978 are wearing jerseys like this one; the style also shows up on a softball player in the only photo of that sport included in 1974; by 1983 other uniforms have replaced it.  Two #44s appear in the books, whom I won’t call out in case they don’t want their names randomly appearing on the internet (although, hey ladies, if this is your jersey please let me know!).

I didn’t find any references specifically to Title IX, but the tone of the mid 1970s books does give a sense that yes, there is a new interest in, and attitude toward, girls’ athletics.  In 1976 that attitude (perhaps because of that year‘s editor?) is particularly evident.  That year, the girls’ basketball team had switched from a female to a male coach, a point which is emphasized in the yearbook: “He proved that men too can make good coaches for an all-girls’ sport involving skill and talent.”  The cross-country page features this headline: “Cross Country Team Includes Girl Runners” and, only a few sentences after informing us that one of those ‘girl runners’ was a state champion, the author points out that the (male) coach “expressed his lack of male chauvinism by insisting that the girls receive the credit due them.”  2012 gives that a sarcastic “gee, thanks,” but depending on the school’s culture at that time, such an “insistence” may have been highly progressive.  Happily, by 1978 the novelty of serious girls’ teams seems to have worn off, at least in the Arrowhead.

*Comparing the numbers and types of sports available to the county’s public school students since the late 19th century is actually quite interesting, and there were many girls’ teams in the early-mid 20th century… but that will have to wait for a later article.

 

Cheerleading megaphone, 1931

Today’s item is related to current sporting events – but no, it’s not a primitive vuvuzela. This cheerleader’s megaphone from 1931 is made of sturdy brown cardboard, with a metal ring on the mouthpiece end. It’s a little squashed, but otherwise it’s in good condition. In ink, on the inside, is the inscription: “Presented by Student Council to Neal Potter Cheer Leader Bethesda Chevy Chase H.S. 1930-1931.” Neal Potter (1915-2008) served on the County Council for many years, and was elected to one term as County Executive. But before his political career, he was a high school student concerned with raising the Pep level at games. (Sorry, political junkies; I’m sure I’ll delve into our campaign collections sometime in the near future.)

Potentially surprising fact #1: In the early 20^th century, the activity of cheerleading was dominated by men. The acknowledged “first cheerleader” was Jack Campbell, a medical student at the University of Minnesota in 1898. Montgomery County yearbooks from the 1930s and 1940s show co-ed squads, but over the decades cheerleading came to be seen as a “girls” activity. Towards the end of the 20^th century boys started joining squads again, sometimes as a joke, but also as important parts of the increasingly gymnastic and athletic routines.

Potentially surprising fact #2: The sports Mr. Potter and his peers were cheering for at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) did not necessarily include football. Football was considered too dangerous – a Georgetown Prep player was fatally injured during a game in 1895 – and although it was played at private schools in the area, and as a club sport, football teams were not officially permitted by the Montgomery County Public School system until 1944. Instead, the most popular public school sport in the 1920s and 1930s was soccer. (Begin your personal degree of World Cup Fever… NOW!) We might think that the local popularity of soccer is a relatively recent phenomenon, but not so. As noted in the 1940 Richard Montgomery yearbook The Rocket, “soccer continues to be the favorite outdoor sport.” However, once football was added soccer dropped off in popularity almost immediately; B-CC got rid of its soccer program altogether because of lack of interest, and it was not reinstated until 1960. The formation of Montgomery Soccer, Inc. in the early 1970s, and the late 20^th century rise in immigration from Latin and South America (where soccer is king), have helped bring the sport back to its former popularity.

Unfortunately, we do not have the B-CC yearbooks for Mr. Potter’s years in our collection; our earliest Pine Tree is from 1936, and it does not mention an organized cheerleading group. Perhaps Mr. Potter was given this megaphone in appreciation for his ‘pro bono’ pep-raising work, as it were.  However, for your enjoyment, below is a photo of the 1943-44 squad from the 1944 Pine Tree.

 

Blair High School button collection, 1956-1960

This weekend, Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring is having a 75^th anniversary celebration. In honor of my alma mater, here’s a little school spirit from the late 1950s.

This little “South Seas” type figure – itself unrelated to Blair, I think, unless it was a souvenir from a themed dance or homecoming parade – is festooned with fifteen buttons, all either pro-Blair or anti-rival. The donor, who grew up near the intersection of Colesville Road and University Boulevard, attended Blair – the old Blair, now Silver Spring International Middle School – and graduated in the class of 1960. The rivals represented here are Bethesda-Chevy Chase (“the Barons,” visible on one of the front buttons), Wheaton, Richard Montgomery, Walter Johnson, Suitland, Bladensburg and Northwestern High Schools. County locals may be thinking, hey, those last three aren’t in Montgomery County! (Today we have a Northwest, but Northwestern, Bladensburg and Suitland are in Prince George’s County.) At the time local high schools were few enough that to make up a full division, teams often played schools from neighboring counties, not just their own.

The little “mascot” was something of a bonus donation. The donor was helping to clean out her childhood home, and offered the Historical Society some pieces from the family’s old farm in Wheaton, dating from around 1900. When I went to pick them up she offered me some 1920s tennis rackets, also from her family, as an afterthought. It was only as I was leaving that I spotted this little guy and mentioned that I too had gone to Blair; after a little discussion it became clear to her that I thought he would be a perfect addition to our 20^th century collections. She seemed dubious, but was happy to make my day and send him off to posterity at the Society, along with the older artifacts.

I get this a lot. Being a relatively young curator has some disadvantages (although occasionally it does provide me with the element of surprise). Reactions to my interest in recent artifacts are usually positive, but sometimes are more along the lines of incredulity and/or indignation (“Just because YOU weren’t born yet doesn’t make it historical!”), and I can understand this point; hearing early U2 on the “oldies” station gives me the same feeling. Sometimes disbelief is mixed with speculation; I swear the donor is trying to think of other things they can foist onto my collections, as if, like in old cartoons, my head has turned into a giant “sucker” lollipop. (Contrary to semi-popular belief, we don’t accept just anything.) Sometimes people are pleasantly surprised to learn that the Historical Society is not just about colonial homes and 19^th century farms. My goal is to make it less of a surprise!