Sports & Leisure

The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.

Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.

William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and AAA established America’s first international auto race in 1904. Held annually on Long Island’s public roads, the race was aimed at improving the performance of American automobiles.
Description
William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and AAA established America’s first international auto race in 1904. Held annually on Long Island’s public roads, the race was aimed at improving the performance of American automobiles. The trophy, a silver cup made by Tiffany, is inscribed with the winning entries and an image of Vanderbilt in his Mercedes race car. After a spectator fatality in 1906, Vanderbilt constructed the first highway designed for automobiles, the Long Island Motor Parkway, where races resumed in 1908. After more fatalities, the race relocated to Georgia, Wisconsin, and California. Vanderbilt donated the cup to the Smithsonian in 1934.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1904
maker
Tiffany & Co.
ID Number
TR.310894
accession number
131820
catalog number
310894
Oklahoma native Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) was awarded this trophy in 1914 for winning the 5 Mile Handicap Road Run held by the Bronxdale Athletic Club.Thorpe, of mixed European and Native American descent, is considered one of the greatest-overall athletes in United States history.
Description (Brief)
Oklahoma native Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) was awarded this trophy in 1914 for winning the 5 Mile Handicap Road Run held by the Bronxdale Athletic Club.
Thorpe, of mixed European and Native American descent, is considered one of the greatest-overall athletes in United States history. He was a star for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where he attained All-American honors in football. He went on to represent the United States at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, winning gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe went on to play professional football, baseball and basketball.
Thorpe's Olympic victories were revoked when it was discovered that he had made money playing semi-pro baseball, forfeiting his status as an amateur. The medals were reinstated to his family in 1983.
date made
1914
associated person
Thorpe, Jim
ID Number
1982.0575.01
accession number
1982.0575
catalog number
1982.0575.01
Handmade Stanley Cup trophy made by the donor, Suzanne Tank and used by her family at Washington Capitals games from 2008 to 2018.Curators often attend events in order to collect objects that pertain to a particular event.
Description (Brief)
Handmade Stanley Cup trophy made by the donor, Suzanne Tank and used by her family at Washington Capitals games from 2008 to 2018.
Curators often attend events in order to collect objects that pertain to a particular event. In this case, fan paraphernalia was collected from the Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Parade celebration in 2019 to document the whole sports experience. Fan objects can tell quite a story about the fan, the team, the sport and what’s happening in society at a particular time. It also speaks to what the user or maker of that object was feeling at the time. Why did they carry that particular object on that particular day. This trophy was born from superstition, to visualize the Cup and perhaps a win for the Captials in their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance in 2008. The photographs document the family's use of this prop throughout the years and their level of dedication to their team.
The Washington Capitals were founded in 1974 as an expansion team and are a member of the Metropolitan Division of the eastern Conference in the National Hockey League. They played at the Capitals Center in Landover, Maryland until 1997 when they made the move to the Verizon Center located in the heart of Washington, DC. Ted Leonsis bought the team in 1999, drafted high profile players and began winning. Since 2009 the Capitals have won eleven division titles, three President’s trophies and in 2018, finally won the elusive Stanley Cup Championship.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2008
ID Number
2019.0096.01
accession number
2019.0096
catalog number
2019.0096.01
Coke can trophy celebrating the Special Olympics is a dented Coca Cola can mounted on the top of a square marble base with a metal figure affixed to the top of the can.
Description (Brief)
Coke can trophy celebrating the Special Olympics is a dented Coca Cola can mounted on the top of a square marble base with a metal figure affixed to the top of the can. The figure is a representation of the jumping man logo of Special Olympics.
From its beginnings as Camp Shriver in Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s backyard, to the first international games in 1968, Special Olympics has been about giving people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to participate in sport. This participation builds confidence, provides emotional support and offers social opportunities for the athletes and their families. With state chapters and a global presence through its World Games, “Special Olympics is the largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities with 5 million athletes in 170 countries worldwide.”
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0331.11
accession number
2017.0331
catalog number
2017.0331.11

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