Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Lebanon Valley Baseball League Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0067
Creators:
Lebanon Valley Baseball League.
Darnbach, Ray
Dates:
1936-1963
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Cubic foot
3 boxes
Repository:
This collection documents the history of the Lebanon Valley Baseball League, and includes names of the teams which played, reports of games, problems attendant to both professional and amateur status of a minor league, and League standings. It contains newspaper clippings, letters and memorandums.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Lebanon Valley Baseball League collection was originally a series of scrapbooks, kept annually, of newspaper write-ups of the League games through the baseball season. It contains some correspondence regarding League affairs. Also included are pictures and stories of major sports events which were presumably of interest to the owner. This collection is of interest to persons studying amateur baseball from 1936-1963 in the minor league. The collection traces the development of the League and its teams. It also portrays the dedicated persons who kept the game and League going.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Lebanon Valley (Pennsylvania) Baseball League was started in 1931 and was amateur through 1934. The players were paid in 1935 but the League folded in 1939 because the teams could not meet their payrolls. The League was reorganized in 1941 on a strict amateur basis. Because of World War II, the League was idle 1943-1945. From 1946-1963 the League played every summer season.
Ray Darnbach of Richland, Pennsylvania, a trucker in Lebanon, Pennsylvania since 1916, was an officer of the Lebanon Valley Baseball League for at least twenty-five years. With the exception of the 1962 and 1963 seasons, he kept scrapbooks of the League's games and events from 1936 through 1961. By March 16, 1963, he had gone to the "big diamonds in the sky," as one newspaper report put it. This collection is a detailed history of the Lebanon Valley Baseball League, and includes names of the teams which played, reports of games, problems attendant to both professional and amateur status of a minor league, and League standings. It contains newspaper clippings, letters and memorandums. The Lebanon Valley Baseball League was started in 1931 and was of amateur status through 1934. The players were paid in 1935 but the League folded in 1939 because the teams couldn't meet their payrolls. The league was reorganized in 1941 on a strict amateur basis. Because of World War II, the league was idle in 1943, 1944, and 1945. From 1946 through 1963, the League played every summer season. The number of teams in the League varied through the years as did the communities they represented, depending in part on available sponsors and players. Information in the collection includes material that covers several problem areas: players and manager criticism of the quality of umpires, getting stories to certain press people in a timely fashion, and internal friction within teams. Scattered throughout the articles about the League are newspaper clippings about major league games, well-known sports figures, such as Connie Mack, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth, and also a few articles on the World Series. There are also stories and images of boxing, bowling, swimming and other sports events. One scrapbook, seemingly started in 1935 and including items added until 1945, has an eclectic flavor. Besides Lebanon Valley Baseball League articles, there are images and newspaper clippings of the killing of John Dillinger, the Bruno Hauptman trial, the Dionne quintuplets and floods in Pennsylvania.

Administration

Author
Robert S. Harding
Custodial History
The collection was transferred from the Division of Community Life (formerly the Division of Home and Community Life, now the Division of Cultural and Community Life) to the Archives Center on August 31, 1983.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was purchased from the Americana Mail Auction through George Rinsland, circa 1970.
Processing Information
Processed by Robert Harding, archivist, 1983.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Lebanon Valley Baseball League Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Scrapbooks -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sports -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baseball -- 1930-1970 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clippings -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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