Looking at these old Spalding’s Guides, most of which include Carlisle Indian School team photos, has given me an idea. Because the team photos have all the people in them—players, coaches, managers and mascots—identified, putting these photos in a single book in chronological order would be helpful for relatives and other people interested in Carlisle Indian School. Richard Tritt, Photocurator at Cumberland County Historical Society (CCHS), and I have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to identify people in photographs from Carlisle Indian School. Sometimes, we had no idea at all who a particular person may have been and some other times we were probably wrong. The photos in Spalding’s Guides had the players’ images numbers by the team prior to being sent in to Spalding. Had Spalding numbered them all, the number faces would likely have varied less than they actually did.
Team photos other than the ones sent in to Spalding exist but most weren’t identified at the time they were taken. Still, they are useful because they were generally taken at a different point in the season and may include more or some different players than the one Spalding used. The photos used in early Spalding’s Guides tend to be of just the starters and, sometimes, a couple of substitutes. Other photos of the team may include more complete rosters or different starters. Regardless, having all these photos in one place should be helpful to researchers, family members and aficionados.
Spalding’s Guides often include information about individual players as well as team results. This information could be included in chronological order grouped with team photos for the particular year. Before undertaking this project, I would like some feedback as to the desirability of such a book. Please let me know if you might be interested in one and what you would like to see in it.
Tags: Cumberland County Historical Society, Richard Tritt, Spalding's Guide
Tom Benjey's Weblog 
February 16, 2012 at 6:14 pm |
Are you talking about re-publishing them in their entirety in a single volume? That would be cool, and I would definitely want one.
February 16, 2012 at 9:04 pm |
Tuxedo Press is currently reprinting them a year at a time (except for the earliest years) as copies are found to scan. What I’m talking about here is to extract information and photos from the various years of Spalding’s guides and bind them together as a single volume focusing on Carlisle.
February 16, 2012 at 9:20 pm
I would imagine they are int he public domain, correct?
That would a neat concept, Tom. Get goin’ …
February 16, 2012 at 9:25 pm |
Any book with a copyright date before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain. After that, it gets complicated due to The Rat, err Steamboat Willie.