F.C. Lane Correspondence papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains correspondence between F.C. Lane and numerous baseball players and officials between 1911 and 1936. Most of the material relates to Lane's work as the editor of Baseball Magazine, with players reporting their off-season activities, among other things. Other themes that received attention include betting in ball parks, the World Series, the Federal League, and World War I. Frequent correspondents included many members of the Hall of Fame, such as Ed Barrow, Jim Bottomley, Max Carey, Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Eddie Collins, Sam Crawford, Kiki Cuyler, Clark Griffith, Will Harridge, Ban Johnson, Walter Johnson, Eppa Rixey, Ray Schalk, Al Simmons, George Sisler, Dazzy Vance, and Zach Wheat.
Dates
- Creation: 1911-1936
Creator
Language of Materials
English .
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions but viewing materials does require an appointment. Please contact the Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.
Conditions Governing Use
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum provides use copies of materials to facilitate private study, scholarship, and research. The Museum welcomes you to use materials in our collections that are in the public domain and to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law and with proper citation. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from: Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 25 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 13326 Phone: 607.547.0330 E-mail: research@baseballhall.org
Biographical / Historical
Ferdinand Cole Lane was born on 25 October 1885 near Moorhead, Minnesota. At the age of four he moved with his family to the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. After graduating from Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, he attended Boston University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology before graduating from the Academy of Boston in 1907. In 1910, Lane was appointed assistant biologist at Boston University. He also worked part-time as an assistant biologist for the Massachusetts Commission of Fisheries and Game, performing and reporting shellfish experiments.
F.C. Lane became the editor of Baseball Magazine in 1910, and remained in that position until 1937. He wrote nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, and in 1925 he published Batting: One Thousand Expert Opinions on Every Conceivable Angle of Batting Science. After retiring from Baseball Magazine, Lane taught history at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, started a journalism program, and earned a Ph.D. while there.
On 30 June 1914, Lane was married at his wife's home in Brooklyn, New York. Emma was born 10 December 1888 in Brooklyn, and graduated from Brown Secretarial School before working as a stenographer. They remained together for nearly 70 years, maintaining a home in the Cape Cod area for most of the time.
The Lanes traveled extensively together, going around the world six times to visit places such as Hawaii, China, Japan, Africa, Scandinavia, and the North and South Poles. These adventures provided ample material for his constant writing, and in 1947 he published his first science-based book, The Mysterious Sea. He followed it with seven other books related to the natural world, including The Story of Trees, which earned him the Natural History Book Club Selection in 1952. In 1955, he received the Junior Book Award for his contributions to the All About series. He published On Old Cape Cod in 1958, which was a collection of poems that highlighted historical landmarks of the Cape.
He maintained memberships in groups that included the Polar Club, the National Historical Society, and the National Geographic Society.
Full Extent
0.84 Linear Feet (in 1 legal and 1 letter document box)
Full Extent
0.83 Cubic Feet
Abstract
This collection contains correspondence between F.C. Lane and numerous baseball players and officials between 1911 and 1936. Lane was the editor for Baseball Magazine during that time, and most of the correspondence with players referred to their off-season activities, some of which he included in issues of the magazine. Other themes that received attention included betting in ball parks, the World Series, the Federal League, and World War I.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series. Series I Players' Correspondence; Series II Officials' Correspondence.
Physical Location
Manuscript Archives, Aisle 8, Range a, Shelf 5
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift (BL-1972-04212, BL-1972-04213)
Processing Information
Materials were placed in archival sleeves where needed, then in acid-free folders and in a document box.
Subject
- Alexander, Grover Cleveland, 1887-1950 (Person)
- Cobb, Ty, 1886-1961 (Person)
- Harridge, Will, 1881-1971 (Person)
- Collins, Eddie, 1887-1951 (Person)
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the F.C. Lane Correspondence papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Cliff Hight
- Date
- July 2006
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Archives Repository