American League papers
Scope and Contents
This collection is organized into nine series by subject matter and chronologically. The bulk of these records were originally produced in the Chicago office while William Harridge was the president. In 1959, Joe Cronin became president of the league and moved the office to Boston and only the active files were sent there. When Harridge died in 1971, all files were shipped to Boston.
Dates
- 1876-1998
Language of Materials
English .
Conditions Governing Access
Some materials are open without restrictions but viewing materials does require an appointment. A 65-year release from the creation date is set by the Office of the Commissioner. See content list for release dates. 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.
Biographical / Historical
The American League was originally the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League (the Senior Circuit). Ban Johnson was the league's first president, 1901-1927.
Extent
40.66 Linear Feet (in 97 document boxes and 1 banker box)
44.26 Cubic Feet
Abstract
This is a collection of correspondence, subject files, player files, newspaper clippings, press releases and reports which were kept by the American League office.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into 9 series. Series I Correspondence; Series II Questionnaires; Series III Subject Files; Series IV Press Releases; Series V Statistics; Series VI Player Files; Series VII Minutes and Reports; Series VIII All-Star and World Series Games; Series IX Daily Waiver Bulletin Ledgers. original order was maintained in the re-housing of each series.
Physical Location
Dean O. Cochran, Jr. Manuscript Archives, Aisle 11, Ranges a-c, Shelves 1-14; Aisle 3, Range a, Shelf 2
Custodial History
This collection was created by the American League over a span of years. The League donated it to the HOF in 1996.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift (BL-2011-00365)
Appraisal
No material was removed during accessioning or processing.
Processing Information
Items were placed in acid-free sleeves where needed, then folders and document boxes.
- Title
- Guide to the American League papers BA MSS 125
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Claudette Scrafford, Manuscript Archivist
- Date
- Summer 2011
- 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