I bear in mind the fun of discovering that pale black-and-white postcard whereas scrolling by Instagram. It’s a 3-3/8″ × 5-3/8″ real-photo postcard exhibiting a small-town baseball staff from the early 1900s. The caption reads “Manitowoc 1907,” and sitting on the left aspect of the entrance row is a younger black pitcher in an old-school baseball sweater. I later realized his identify: George H. Wilson, the one African American participant on the staff. Although it’s barely seen on my copy, the photographer’s imprint “Melendy” seems within the decrease proper nook. On the best edge, a penciled notice reads faintly: “The staff that defeated Chi. Riverside.” The corners are barely worn, however the picture itself remains to be remarkably sharp. It felt like holding a forgotten piece of baseball historical past in my arms.
The 1907 Manitowoc postcard that includes George H. Wilson, seated far left within the entrance row. Actual-photo postcard by Melendy.
This postcard comes from the very starting of the “divided-back” postcard period, which started in March 1907, when the U.S. Submit Workplace allowed a message and deal with to be written on reverse sides of privately made playing cards. That rule change kicked off what’s often called the “Golden Age of Postcards,” and tens of millions of real-photo playing cards, pictures developed instantly from negatives onto postcard inventory, have been made earlier than World Battle I. Small-town photographers usually offered memento staff portraits like this one. In Manitowoc, studios like Melendy’s and, later, Auermiller’s issued baseball playing cards of native groups. A 1908 “sister” postcard, for instance, reveals most of the identical gamers and credit Auermiller as a substitute. In that model, George Wilson stands within the again row, far proper. Right now, postcards like these are uncommon. Hake’s Auctions, one of many premier Negro League memorabilia public sale homes, referred to as this one “an early and historic merchandise for Negro League collectors”.
A 1908 sister postcard of the Manitowoc staff, credited to Auermiller. Wilson now stands within the again row, far proper.
Fewer than ten examples of the postcard are identified right now, with simply 4 confirmed in public public sale data. As for photos of George H. Wilson himself, solely a small handful survive, particularly in comparison with his contemporaries. His former teammate Honus Wagner seems on a whole lot of identified pictures and dozens of playing cards. Even different early black gamers like Chappie Johnson or Rube Foster are documented way more extensively. For a pitcher as achieved as Wilson, the visible document is strikingly skinny. That makes understanding his story much more essential.
Shut-up of George H. Wilson, the one African American participant on the 1907 Manitowoc staff.
George H. Wilson’s profession was compelling. Born in Palmyra Township, Michigan, Wilson made his identify early. In 1895, at 19 years outdated, he pitched briefly for the Web page Fence Giants earlier than spending most of that season with the Adrian Demons, an built-in staff within the Michigan State League with one other notable participant: Honus Wagner. That yr, Wilson posted a dominant 29–4 pitching document and batted .327. He and some teammates have been sadly among the many final black gamers to seem in white-organized baseball for many years. He earned the nickname “Palmyra Surprise” for his roots within the small city close to Adrian.
After 1895, Wilson rejoined the Web page Fence Giants and have become one in every of their high pitchers by the 1898 season. The staff dominated Black baseball throughout that point and disbanded after 1898. Wilson then helped kind the Chicago Columbia Giants, the place he pitched from 1899 to 1900, usually working with catcher Chappie Johnson.
In 1901, the Columbia Giants merged with Frank Leland’s Chicago Unions to grow to be the Chicago Union Giants. Wilson remained a standout pitcher with the brand new staff and was described as a hard-throwing lefty; some referred to as him “the swiftest pitcher within the nation”. He stayed with the staff till round 1905.
Wilson additionally pitched internationally within the winter of 1906–07 for Habana in Cuba’s winter league. Although the field scores present he had a shedding document in 1907, the truth that he performed overseas in any respect was uncommon for an American participant of the period. After returning, Wilson joined semi-pro leagues within the Higher Midwest.
In 1907, Wilson landed in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, becoming a member of an area Lake Shore League staff and stayed there by the 1908 season. That is the time period when the postcard was produced.
Little or no is understood about Wilson’s life after baseball. He died younger, at simply 40 years outdated, in November 1915 on the Kalamazoo State Hospital, a psychological establishment, and was buried in his hometown of Palmyra. His grave, alongside his household’s, is among the few identified markers of his legacy.
That’s why the Manitowoc postcard issues. It’s one of many few surviving photos of George Wilson, and it captures him throughout his last years as an lively participant. Hake’s was proper to name it historic. With so little documentation of black baseball earlier than the Negro Leagues, this card is greater than a photograph, it’s a connection to a time when baseball’s racial boundaries have been nonetheless shifting. For collectors and historians alike, it’s a uncommon and significant hyperlink to a lesser-known chapter of the sport’s historical past.
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