[Rarebooks] F/S Harvard 1905 Baseball Scrapbook over 100 leaves Harvard had a Black Shortstop in 1905

[Garry R Austin]

We offer for your consideration the following, net to all and postpaid @$375
From
Austin's Antiquarian Books
PO Box 730
Wilmington, Vt. 05363
mail at austinsbooks.com
802 464-8438

(Harvard Baseball) A Freshman Baseball Scrapbook.                    
(Cambridge Mass): 1905. Octavo; quarter cloth and marbled paper covered 
boards with a paste-on label at center of upper board, with the printed 
legend, "Harvard Cooperative Society" and written inside the ruled box, 
"Freshman Baseball Scrapbook". pp; 88 blank leaves with pieces displayed 
for the most part on rectos only, although near the end of the book, 
there are pieces on rectos and versos, approx 110pp. with clippings; ten 
clippings with photographs or cartoons; It is completely filled. The 
scrapbook measures 8.25" x 6.75";  There is no identifying marks of 
ownership or any hint as to the identity of the compiler. Its pages are 
filled with very neatly arranged newspaper clippings in straight 
columns. There is a ticket from the Harvard-Yale Game, 1905, Harvard 4 - 
Yale 2. There are clippings from many games, Harvard-Brown;  
Harvard-Groton; Harvard-Holy Cross; Harvard-Williams;  Harvard-Yale; 
Harvard-Colby;  Harvard-Navy; Harvard-Georgetown; Harvard-Virginia; 
Great clipping "Clarkson Pitches Tomorrows Game - No Objection From West 
Point To Colored Player-Captain Of Eleven Along"; They took a Southern 
Swing.

William Clarence Matthews was the single black player on the team and 
was called "Harvard's best player." He played shortstop, 1902-1905.  
Unable to fully join the professional leagues, he went to law school and 
passed the bar, becoming legal counsel to Marcus Garvey in the 1920s. 
Born in Selma, Alabama in 1877, William Clarence Matthews made an 
impressive journey during a tumultuous era of race relations in the 
United States, from the halls of the Tuskegee Institute to Phillips 
Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, before matriculating at Harvard 
College. He played varsity baseball all four years, and one year on the 
football team. Matthews' athletic ability, sportsmanship, and fortitude 
on and off the field were remarkable.  He worked various jobs to fund 
his Harvard education and attracted the support and interest of 
prominent members of the Harvard and professional community, including 
the preeminent educator, Booker T. Washington.
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