Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: The Ballplayer

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

Unknown African-American baseball player about 1918-1921 Portsmouth, Virginia



Among photos passed down to me from my grandaunts Lillie Killeen and Helen Killeen Parker is this picture of a Negro baseball player.  I don’t know who he is or how Lillie and Helen came to have his picture.  Did he play on a local team?  A traveling team?  Was he an acquaintance?  The date is unknown, but most of the photos are from 1918-1921.




© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

7 comments:

  1. Another mystery! Maybe someone will be able to answer your questions.

    Happy Wednesday. ☺

    ReplyDelete
  2. He sure doesn't look very happy :-(

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't think he wanted his picture taken! I don't know anything about baseball coming from the UK but is that a typical sporting outfit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually the uniform is quite typical. Today's uniforms look much the same although most players wear full-length pants rather than knee-length. Occasionally you'll see young ballplayers wearing the knee-pants. I always wonder if they are channeling some long-gone hero from the past.

      Delete
  4. Did you know those uniforms were made of wool back then? Too bad there is no emblem on his jersey!
    Also interesting...is that a kid or a lady on the left?

    ReplyDelete