John Holway Research papers
Scope and Contents
A collection of research files related to games played in the Negro Leagues and black baseball, as well as other published articles by Holway. This collection was created and compiled by John Holway over a span of years while he was doing this research. This collection dates between 1890 and 2000 and includes statistics, boxscores, game accounts, and research notes by Holway. The collection starts in 1890 with the Eastern Interstate League and continues until 1950. Starting in 1909, the files are divided into East and West and includes some postseason games. Holway notes that his format for player/game is, for example, 4-1, 4 AB, 1 hit/HR/SB; if paper did not give at-bats, he estimated or used the notation X-1.
Dates
- 1890-2000
Creator
- Holway, John (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions but viewing materials does require an appointment. Please contact the Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.
Conditions Governing Use
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum provides use copies of materials to facilitate private study, scholarship, and research. The Museum welcomes you to use materials in our collections that are in the public domain and to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law and with proper citation. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from: Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 25 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 13326 Phone: 607.547.0330 E-mail: research@baseballhall.org
Biographical / Historical
John Holway, 1929-2024, wrote books about baseball since 1944. He has been in the forefront of compiling Negro League statistics and debunking other myths about the leagues. He has written six books about the Negro Leagues, most notably The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues and Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues, making him one of the major writers on the topic. He also wrote a 1955 book on Japanese baseball (Japan is Big League in Thrills), one of the first English-language books on the subject. In 1988, he won the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book of the year with Blackball Stars. He also wrote a pair of books about Ted Williams, The Last .400 Hitter (1991) and Ted the Kid (2006). In 2011, he was among the second class of inductees to receive the Henry Chadwick Award.
Extent
4.58 Linear Feet (in 11 document boxes)
4.08 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
A collection of game statistics related to black baseball and the Negro Leagues compiled by John Holway while researching games over a large span of years. This collection dates from 1890 to 2000 but excludes 1931 through 1939.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Physical Location
Manuscript Archives, Aisle 13, Range b, Shelf 1
Custodial History
Materials were created or compiled by John Holway over a span of years and donated to the HOF in July 2015.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift (BL-520-2015)
Appraisal
No materials were removed during accessioning or processing.
Processing Information
Materials were placed in acid-free folders and document boxes.
Creator
- Holway, John (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the John Holway Research papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Claudette Scrafford, Manuscript Archivist
- Date
- April 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Archives Repository