This 8th grade journal was an assignment for Englekirk's drama class. According to the collecting curator, "The journal was assigned to help encourage the students to become more self-aware actors. He was pretty honest in the journal and says it’s surprising looking back on it that no one ever reached out to him after reading it. But he always thought his teachers were supportive and available."
Jordan Max-Ryan Englekirk was born intersex in 1972 and because he looked like a girl, grew up as Jennifer. Englekirk has personally identified as male for most of his life and growing up struggled with this dichotomy. Often bullied in school and berated by teachers and adults in his life, Englekirk finally made the transition to male in 2012, at 40 years old. He now lives as a man but during high school, while still living as Jennifer, Englekirk became a member of the girls’ softball team and soon was a leader on the diamond. Sports was an important outlet for creating his identity. Englekirk kept sports in his life as an adult and eventually became the first woman to ump at Cooperstown Little Majors Stadium for Little League tournament games.
Bronze coin mounted inside an easel back coin holder.
The coin is a souvenir from the 1970 dedication of Three Rivers Stadium, former home of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates and the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers. The Stadium was one of the era's attempts at creating multi-purpose stadiums to host teams from multiple sports.
The Stadium was opened on July 16, 1970 for a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, and last used on December 16, 2000 for a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Redskins (now Commanders.) It was demolished on February 11, 2001, with both teams moving to new, separate fields.
Sleeve patch worn on Major League Baseball uniforms during the 1939 season. The patch commemorated The centennial of Baseball although baseball had been played in various forms before 1839. The anniversary gave credence to the myth that Abner Doubleday should receive credit for formalizing the rules of baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. While Doubleday's actual involvement is disputed today, he was an important figure to those who argued that baseball was strictly an invention of the United States.
1939's Centennial of Baseball coincided with the opening of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Exhibits vending machine postcard featuring Cincinnati Reds baseball player Henry Sauer.
Outfielder Henry “Hank” Sauer played Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds (1941-1942, 1948-49), Chicago Cubs (1949-1955) St. Louis Cardinals (1956) and New York/ San Francisco Giants (1957-1959).
1952’s National League Most Valuable Player and a two-time All-Star, Sauer had a lifetime .266 batting average with 288 home runs and 876 runs batted in.
Black cotton t-shirt from the Este line of clothing started and worn by Brauch. Born with a heart defect, Brauch never let anything hold him back from enjoying life. Inspired by his dad’s love of skateboarding, Tim Brauch (1974-1999) began his career in the late 1980s. He rode for the Sessions team early in his career and picked up sponsors Vans, Independent and New Deal. In 1992 Santa Monica Airlines (SMA) gave Tim his first pro model and shortly after Tim established the Este line of shoes and clothing with his friend and fellow skater Salman Agah. Using the “Es” from Salman and the “Te” from Tim to form “Este”, they were among the first pro skaters to branch out into the shoe and clothing market. At this point Tim left Vans for Etnies footwear and in the mid 1990s switched to Santa Cruz skateboards. In 1998, Tim won the Vans Triple Crown Street Competition although his career was cut short, passing away suddenly of cardiac arrest at the age of 25. His family holds the Tim Brauch Memorial Contest each year to celebrate Tim’s love of skateboarding. They have also established the Tim Brauch Memorial Fund which promotes skateboarding as “a safe, healthy and fun activity.”
Boxing cigarette card with color illustration of Owen Moran on the front of the card. Moran's stats and biography are printed on the back of the card. This card is part of the “Champion Athlete and Prize Fighter Series” by Mecca Cigarettes and Hassan Cigarettes.
Brown leather boots with brown laces and brown stitching. These were worn by the donor, Earl Shaffer, during his hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1948. This was the first of three times Shaffer was said to have walked the entire length of the 2,180 miles of the Trail. He hiked through again in 1965 and 1998. The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world, traveling through fourteen states along the Appalachian mountain range from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the Trail’s northern end in Katahdin, Maine. The trail—completed in 1937 thanks to the cooperation of government agencies, private partners, and volunteers—continues to be sustained by public-private partnerships.