During this time, baseball was growing in popularity. Baseball Cards, 1887-1914, with its 2,100 items, provides a launching point for the study of this era of United States history. Many people moved to American cities at the turn of the century for economic, social, and political opportunities. Cities were the center of the industrial revolution, providing employment to recent immigrants, as well as those displaced from their rural homes. Professional baseball teams were located in these growing urban centers.
Students can browse the list of cities represented by the baseball cards in the collection.
Students can discuss why a certain city may or may not have had a baseball team. Students can search on baseball in Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 to find photographic images of people playing the game. At the turn of the century, Americans had increasing amounts of leisure time as the industrial work day became standardized. Weekends and vacation time allowed for popular forms of entertainment. Most popular were those that entertained many people at once.