There are pleasures in life and then of course there are pleasures in life. The second pleasure comes from introducing university students to the art of archival research. Yesterday I accompanied Professor Rick Burton of Syracuse U’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as he took a group of students in his honors class to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. We were given an advanced tour of the world’s most famous sport museum by Brad Horn (pictured in the photo above on the far left) who is the VP for Communications and Education. Prof. Burton is in the back row. I’m the guy on the far right with the leather jacket holding a bag of “merch”.
(Pictured: SU Honors students listen to Jim Gates as he describes rare historical artifacts from baseball history.)
Students were given a tour of the Hall and met with senior librarian Jim Gates who showed students some rare holdings including the famous Babe Ruth check sent to the Boston Red Sox by the New York Yankees. In 1919 the teams didn’t have their modern names and the check references the Boston American Baseball Club.
I couldn’t resist photographing the original publicity poster for my favorite baseball movie “Pride of the Yankees” starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright. Babe Ruth is also in the film.
Jim Gates pointed out the research about baseball isn’t always about the sport but about American history. Many scholars come to the Hall of Fame’s library from around the world to explore the intricacies and complexity of US history. One of the students said later: “That was the best thing I’ve ever experienced.” I love our Honors students!
Planet of the Blind 