Sports Documents

Fun to watch and fun to play, sporting activities have always had a key role in public life. These sports-related stories take us back to the ancient Olympics and forward to the days of a "Moneyball" approach to baseball.

The First Worcester Edition of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, Intended for the Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy, and Pretty Miss Polly i...

Back in the day when American newspapers cost a nickel, and the price of Southern cotton was still noted at the top of the front page, Bobby Jones had...

The growth of baseball in the years following the Civil War was given added impetus by the rise of cheap, mass-produced books. Publishers helped stand...

  The Dan Beard Camp was a popular place for boys at the time Howard Hughes was young.  His mother wanted him to interact with other young ...

Image of a photograph, from NOAA, depicting a diver using mixed gases at a decompression stop.

The Baer-Braddock fight was heavily promoted before fight day.  This press notice is typical of the pre-fight publicity.  

Sol White published an account of his experiences in his book, History of Colored Base Ball. Portions of that significant work are available online, ...

Sol White published an account of his experiences as an African-American baseball player in his book, History of Colored Base Ball. Portions of that ...

Jackie Robinson's autobiography - I Never Had It Made - was published in 1972.  It allows us to hear from Jackie, first hand, on what it was like...

Bookcover image of Jackie Robinson comic book. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, July 1951. Vol. 1, no. 5. From, By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson...

Jackie Robinson was very sad when his mentor, Branch Rickey, let the Dodgers organization. During the 1950 spring-training season, he wrote a letter ...

This is the second page of Jackie Robinson's 1950 letter to Branch Rickey, following Rickey's departure from the Dodgers' organization. Robinson wrot...

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