[barrysloate]

Dave- when David Block was writing his book "Baseball Before We Knew It", he and I paid a visit to the Racquet Club. It was of course by appointment. Henderson was the man in charge of putting this wonderful collection together, and cataloguing it, in the late 1940's. There was a man who we met there named Gerard Belliveau, who if memory serves, was Henderson's apprentice. Unfortunately today, the library is somewhat neglected, and very few people know about it. David and I joked that each time we asked to see a book, Mr. Belliveau took it from the shelf and blew the dust off the top of it. That gives you a sense that nobody ever looks at the collection anymore. It's in a hidden room that was hard to find, and I remember that it was right next to one of the racquetball courts.

If you ever want to see it it's located at 370 Park Avenue, and its official name is The Racquet and Tennis Club. I have no idea if that gentleman is still there, nor do I know how anxious they are to actually show it. But the library is simply amazing, almost entirely consisting of 19th century material.