The Meharry Correspondence: University Sports

Throughout the month of November, we’re focusing on sports in Illinois history. Follow along here and on our social media to learn more about the games, athletes, and teams that have made an impact on Illinois. 

The C.L. Meharry correspondence in the Meharry Family Collection offers a unique look at university life and its sports in the early 1900s. Charles Leo Meharry attended the University of Illinois and graduated from the Agricultural College in 1907. During his time there, he wrote many letters to his friend and future wife, Clara Esther Burghardt (referred to as Esther in the letters) who attended Purdue University and went on to become a teacher.… Read More

Arthur Sewell: Minor League Baseball at the Turn of the 20th Century

Throughout the month of November, we’re focusing on sports in Illinois history. Follow along here and on our social media to learn more about the games, athletes, and teams that have made an impact on Illinois. 

The Arthur E. Sewell Baseball Scrapbook and Photographs consist of a compilation of newspaper clippings along with loose postcards and photographs that document the minor league baseball career of Arthur Sewell during the early twentieth century. A native of Huntley, Illinois, Sewell was born in 1885 and played catcher for several teams between 1909 and 1915.

The scrapbook of Sewell’s baseball career is within the pages of a bound music book, Brainard’s Melodic School for the Violin.Read More