1914 All American Ladies Base Ball Club Postcard

Though known primarily for his Negro League contributions, the Hall of Fame executive J.L. Wilkinson also made history--or shall we say, herstory--by establishing the first notable barnstorming team of "Bloomer Girls." (So named for the bloomer-style pants that allowed suffrage-era women more freedom of movement.) As noted in Wilkinson's SABR biography by Charles F. Faber, "He recruited the best female baseball players he could find, including a superstar from the Boston Bloomer Girls, who played under the name Carrie Nation." Indeed, Nation (née Mae Arbaugh and assuredly not the hatchet-wielding temperance icon!) is featured prominently here, along with Marie Dierl, Harriet Murphy, Elizabeth Pull, Marguerite Cunningham, Mae Fay, Anna McCann, Selma Walbaun and Mable Bohle.

St. Mary's of Czestohowa postcard

St. Mary of Czestohowa: postally unused possibly St. Mary's of Czestochowa in Bound Brook NJ

Oregon vs. Boston Bloomer Girls postcard

Oregon vs. Boston Bloomer Girls In-Game Postcard

1908 Chicago Bloomer Girls in Iowa

Chicago Bloomer Girls baseball team playing a game on June 3, 1908, in Peterson, Iowa

c.1915 Squaw Valley (Lake Tahoe area) CA postcard

c1910 New York Bloomers baseball ticket

1910 RPPC Star Bloomer Girls (SD)

Postmarked on the back 1910, Morristown SD.