For help with search strategies, go to Finding Items in American Memory . You can read and search all of the text in this collection without a special viewer. You can see most of the photographs in the collection, but to see high-resolution archival quality images, you may need a special viewer. For help with viewers, go to American Memory Viewer Information . Baseball was elevated to an organized sport in the 1840s and 1850s, and the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was established in 1869.
Students can find materials related to the early history of the sport.
Search on baseball 1860-1870 to find images of the early days of the game, including this poster of the Cincinnati Red Stockings from the year they became a professional team. Students might also look at Baseball Beginnings , a section of the Early Baseball Pictures, 1860s-1920s Special Presentation. By the turn of the century, the culmination of a baseball season was the competition to see which team was the best in the country - the World Series. Many Americans flocked to see the games, standing in line for tickets and selling out stadiums, just as they do today. Students can find pictures of baseball fans by searching on spectators and World Series .