Football…in the Archives?
Blog post by JMM archivist Lorie Rombro. You can read more posts by Lorie here.
A few weeks ago, while processing a collection I came upon a list of addresses and I was unsure how it connected to the collection. As I was looking over the list I noticed the very last name: John Unitas. This piqued my interest andso I began looking up the other names on the list.
What I found was five players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame! Maybe you recognize them: Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, and Johnny Unitas.
The collection was donated from the estate of Bernard S. “Bucky” Levin. Mr. Levin was a lifelong sports fan whoalso owned a pharmacu in Baltimore. His pharmacy not only provided medical supplies to the Baltimore Colts, but also filled prescriptions for many players. One of Mr. Levin’s philanthropic interests was the Eddie Block Memorial Courage Award dinner, which is named for the late Colts trainer and raises money to help abused children.
All this research made me think about growing up in Baltimore. As a child I had no interest in football, but I knew who the Colts where. My father, grandfather, and uncles all watched the games and were on the phone throughout a game discussing each play and every call.
I think if you are from Baltimore and are old enough to remember the Colts, everyone has a story to tell. My first real experience understanding how important football was to the city was when I was 7 and attending summer nature camp at Goucher college. I remember the doors to the building where large and very heavy and getting them open could be difficult. Luckily there where very large men running around on the field next to the building who were happy to help. After a few days of camp, I told my father that I had met the largest men I had ever seen and that they always waved and said hello when we passed them.
After a series of questions starting with “what are these men doing?” and moving on to “are they playing a game?”, my parents discovered I was waving hello to the practicing Colts! I’m not sure if my father had driven me to camp before that, but he certainly did afterwards.
I saw first hand how excited people where to meet them and watch ever step they took. Although 7 year old me was really only impressed with their size, it left a lasting impression on me on how important sports can be to a person and a city.
*Please don’t try and grab an autograph at any of these addresses! But you can get a taste of “Where Are They Now” in this feature from the Baltimore Sun!