Herrmann, August, 1859-1931. August "Garry" Herrmann papers : correspondence, clippings, letter books, minutes, 1887-1938, 1902-1927.
Title:
August "Garry" Herrmann papers : correspondence, clippings, letter books, minutes, 1887-1938, 1902-1927.
This collection contains the papers of August "Garry" Herrmann who was President of the Cincinnati Reds and Chairman of the National Commission during the years 1902-1927. Herrmann's papers consist of correspondence, newspaper articles, contracts, ledgers, maps, blueprints, drawings, and memorabilia which offer insight into the operations of an early twentieth-century baseball club and the first ruling government of baseball. Although Herrmann is regarded as a peacemaker and the father of the World Series, he is best remembered as a colorful and jovial baseball magnate. The papers of August "Garry" Herrmann is made up of two parts; Part I. Cincinnati Reds, and Part II. National Commission. Part I. contains all the material associated with Herrmann as President of the Cincinnati Reds, 1902-1927. Part II. consists of material related to Herrmann as Chairman of the National Commission, 1903-1920. The papers were arranged in this fashion due to the great difference in the functions of the two positions. In effect, the arrangement unveils the inner-workings of an early twentieth-century baseball team as well as the first ruling government of baseball, which allows the researcher to see more clearly the relationships between the two. This collection consists of correspondence, newspaper articles, contracts, maps, blueprints, and memorabilia. Nearly all of the correspondence in this collection was received by Herrmann as either President of the Cincinnati Reds or Chairman of the National Commission. When viewing correspondence grouped by teams and leagues, keep in mind that they were writing Herrmann and not each other. Arranging the material by team allows the information to be better connected. Most of the material is organized by name, position, organization/team/league, additional information, and date(s). Some of the folder numbers are followed with an "a" because the material was discovered after the final arrangement (for example, see Box 63, Folder 71a). Information contained within parentheses refers to subject matter in the particular correspondence. When "pl:" is located in parentheses, such as (pl: Cobb), this means that the writer of the correspondence is writing about a player with the last name of Cobb. This does not mean, however, that all the information is about that player, but that a portion of it is. The design of the finding aid is best researched if used in conjunction with a website search engine. However, when viewing this as a MS-Word file, a researcher can search the finding aid using the Find command located under Edit on the toolbar. Search the finding aid using last names, city of team, league names, and various subject terms such as "World Series," "World War I," "Sunday baseball," "Cuba," etc. Not all material associated with a particular player, manager, president, etc., is located in the same place. Material associated with a certain player may be located in multiple areas depending on what teams the player was representing at the time he was writing Herrmann or with what cases he was involved in either the National Commission or American and National Leagues. This arrangement decision was made because a straight alphabetical listing (by last name) could not show the relationships between player-manager-president-league-subject. When arranging material by league, team, player, etc., a researcher has the opportunity to find more on the subject by seeing like material in close proximity. For example, if a researcher wants information on Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers, search Cobb and it will bring you to the Detroit/AL section. Not only does one find correspondence from Cobb to Herrmann, but also material from Navin to Herrmann and players Dalton, Dauss, and Lowe each writing to Herrmann. Because Cobb was such a prominent player, he was probably mentioned in their correspondence to Herrmann. This information will only substantiate the information sought by a researcher.
ArchivalResource:
151 boxes (90 linear feet)
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/299750719 View
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