Sioux City Ghosts Scrapbooks
name: label: Author
content: Williams, Franklin
label: Collector
content: Sioux City Ghosts
place: label: Place
content: Sioux City (Iowa)
label: Place
content: Iowa
topic: label: Topic
content: Softball
label: Topic
content: African American athletes
label: Topic
content: Softball players
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Franklin Williams, Gift, 1997.
creator: label: Author
content: Williams, Franklin
label: Collector
content: Sioux City Ghosts
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sioux City Ghosts Scrapbooks
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Sioux City Ghosts were an all-black fast-pitch softball team that toured the country in the 1920s and 1930s. For their pranks and antics on the field, they were often compared to basketball's Harlem Globetrotters. The team formed in 1925 as a boys' club which gathered to play softball. In 1931 they began touring. They gained a reputation and quickly drew large crowds. The team also played in Mexico and Canada. The team disbanded when World War II began, and many members served in the armed forces. After the war, few members rejoined, but the team kept going unti 1956.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.5 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1920s-1983
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0634
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Posters
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Photograph albums
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Postcards
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Divided into 2 series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Cathy Keen, May 2001.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Posters -- 1930-1940
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 1930-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Photograph albums -- 1920-1970
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Postcards -- 1930-1940
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: A scrapbook and a photograph album detailing the day-to-day lives on the road of a barnstorming black softball team, five posters advertising appearances of the Ghosts, and a certificate. The scrapbook, kept by one of the players, Franklin Williams, contains his handwritten history of the team, a handwritten schedule, postcards from some of the cities they played in, greeting cards, restaurant menus, scorecards, and a large number of news clippings about games. The album contains photographs of the Ghosts playing, snapshots of cities they visited, street scenes, ballparks, families and friends, and tourist attractions.