My trip to Mecca

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Posted By: Paul

I was recently in Washinton D.C., and decided to stop by the Library of Congress to see if I could take a look at their Old Judge collection. I'm sad to report that they will not permit you to view these cards, referring you to the pictures on their website. The same is true for the uncut sheets of Old Judges.

According to the librarians there, high quality reproductions are available of all of the Library of Congress' photos, including the uncut Old Judge sheets which someone was asking about in another thread. I haven't checked it out yet, but was told by the librarians that ordering instructions and prices are on the Library of Congress website, www.loc.gov.

After striking out with the Old Judges, I asked to see any other baseball cards they have. The librarians referred me to a file cabinet containing sports photos. I expected to find thousands of cards, since cards must be deposited with the Library of Congress in order to obtain a copyright registration for the cards. But I only found two true cards: an Old Judge cabinet of a minor leaguer named Vaughan and a Kalamazoo Bat of a player (I've forgotten his name) with the team trainer.

However, there were a few very interesting photos. At the top of the list was a composite photo celebrating a barnstorming trip to California taken by the World Champion Baltimore Orioles and a team of National League All Stars. The All Stars were highlighted by Jesse Burkett and a very young Jimmy Collins. Each player on both teams is pictured in a little oval. The team's managers are also pictured, including Frank Selee.

Another nice item was a large mounted photo of the Chicago National Leage team. The mount is a very interesting deep green with gold lettering indicating the team is from "1885-86". The team is pictured with a banner in the background that reads "Champions of the United States." I didn't measure it, but, including the mount, it was about 8x10.

The last of the interesting photos was one celebrating the 1909 Pirates' pennant. It shows various Pirate players on a ship, with enemy managers Johhn McGraw and Frank Chance being forced to walk the plank.

There may be more baseball treasures hidden in the Library of Congress, but I had very little time and very little knowledge of how to locate anything.

If any of you are interested in giving it a shot, you need to register in the main building (called the "Jefferson" building). Basically, this is the process of getting a library card. Then you go to the "prints and photos" reading room next door in the "Madison" building. That is where all of the photos are supposed to be kept -- or at least that's what I was told.