Hank Aaron Autograph
name: label: depicted (sitter); signer
content: Aaron, Hank
notes: label: Description
content: Autograph of Hank Aaron given to collector Edwin Rowlands. The autograph has been attached to a color photograph of Aaron.
label: Description
content: Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron (b.1934) first began playing professional baseball as a teenage shortstop for the Negro League's Indianapolis Clowns.
label: Description
content: Aaron joined Major League Baseball in 1952, signing a contract with the National League's Milwaukee Braves. Aaron played right-field for the Braves for almost the entirety of major league tenure, following the club in its move to Atlanta in 1966. In 1975 he returned to Milwaukee as a member of the city's new team, the Brewers, for his final season.
label: Description
content: On April 8, 1974, Aaron hit his record setting 715th home run, besting the mark set by Babe Ruth, who last set the record in 1935. Finishing his career with 755, "The Hammer" was baseball's home run king until 2007, when he was overtaken by Barry Bonds.
label: Description
content: Aaron's on-field exploits fill baseball's record books. Finishing his career with a .305 batting average, the 25 time all-star still holds records for most total bases (6,856) and RBI (2,297.) Besides being second in all-time home runs, Aaron is currently third all-time in hits (3,771) and in games played (3,298.)
label: Description
content: Aaron dealt with racism throughout his career. As he neared Ruth's mark, he received thousands of letters daily, much of it hate mail, including threats to his life. In 1976, Aaron was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American. Inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush in 2002.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: web subject
content: Sports
label: name of sport
content: Baseball
label: level of sport
content: Professional
label: Subject
content: Autographs
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Edwin A. Rowlands
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0347.27
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0347.27
label: accession number
content: 1983.0347
objectType: label: Object Name
content: autograph, baseball
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: adhesive (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 30.3 cm x 20.3 cm; 11 15/16 in x 8 in