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Published November 2006
Decades
of county’s
“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” — David C. McCullough, author and historian By
Kimberly Hilden History museums often are on a tourist’s must-see list when traveling to a new destination because they provide a depth of knowledge about a place even if the visitor only has a day or two to spend there. But what if a person has years to spend there? Well, then that depth of knowledge becomes enriched with personal connections, as a place’s and a person’s history become intertwined. Such is the case with the Museum of Snohomish County History’s newest exhibit, “Pastimes in Snohomish County: A Look Back at Baseball & Other Sports.”
The exhibit, which began showing in September and runs through spring 2007, focuses on the significance of local sports teams through photos and newspaper articles, said Eric Taylor, executive director of the museum. “Some of the descriptions are very colorful,” Taylor said of turn-of-the-century sports writing. The core of the exhibit is on loan from the Edmonds-South Snohomish County Historical Society Museum and highlights the baseball history of communities throughout the county, beginning in 1877, when baseball arrived in the area in the form of Snohomish and Lowell baseball clubs. Researched by Dave Larson, author of “Wide Awakes, Invincibles & Smokestackers: Early Baseball in Tall Timber Country,” the exhibit reveals that professional baseball didn’t make its local debut in 1984 with the arrival of the Everett Giants, but some 79 years earlier with the Smokestackers. Also of note are photos and a baseball card of Jimmy Claxton, a pitcher in Mukilteo in 1922-23 and in Edmonds in 1925. But before that, in 1916, he was the first player “to break the color barrier” in organized baseball, playing briefly for the Oakland Oaks, part of the Pacific Coast League. Baseball luminary and Snohomish native Howard Earl Averill also is part of the exhibit. Known as the “Earl of Snohomish,” he was a six-time All-Star and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. And then there are the lesser known, but no less interesting, athletes recorded on film — Little Leaguers from decades past, blue-collar workers who took part in “industrial leagues” at the turn of the century and military personnel who made up the Paine Field teams in the 1940s.
One 1943 Paine Field photo shows an all-black team of baseball players; the following year shows an interracial team — even though it was a time when “the military was segregated and so was professional baseball,” Taylor noted. Along with baseball, the “Pastimes” exhibit captures the excitement of early high school sports. There are front pages of Everett High School’s Kodak student newspaper from 1920 and 1921 on display as well as information on Enoch Bagshaw, the football coach who led Everett High School past East Tech High of Cleveland, Ohio, to win the United States Championship in 1920. The exhibit also acknowledges sports teams of today, with memorabilia from the AquaSox (bobblehead of J.J. Putz included) and the Silvertips. Overall, the exhibit is about “hometown pride and fan loyalty” Taylor said. From the Smokestackers to the Silvertips, they are themes that have endured in Snohomish County for more than a century — and are worth examining firsthand to make a personal connection. |
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©
2006 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA
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