Description: Group portrait of the Ohio School for the Deaf baseball club, the Independents, in 1879. The seated man in the suit is Parley P. Pratt, the team's coach and a teacher of shoemaking at the school. Pratt is credited with introducing baseball to the Ohio School for the Deaf, and was manager for the team during their successful 1879 tour around the country. The Independents covered more than 3,500 miles during the tour, competing against professional and semi-professional teams and ending with a 44-7 record. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 362_4H629_Independents1879
Subjects: Deafness; Ohio School for the Deaf; Baseball--History; Baseball players; Athletes; Sports--Ohio--History;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of Edward Dundon, from "Historical and Biographical Souvenir of the Ohio School for the Deaf," published in Columbus, Ohio, in 1898. In addition to a history of the school's operation, the book includes "portraits and biographical sketches of representative alumni" such as Dundon. His biographical sketch states that Dundon was born in Columbus in 1858 (though other sources list 1859), and after losing his hearing at an early age, enrolled in the Ohio School for the Deaf at age 10. He was an active athlete, playing for the school's baseball team the Independents. He was drafted to the American Association for the Columbus Buckeyes in 1884, becoming the first deaf player in the major leagues. He continued playing professional baseball for various teams around the country until 1889, when his health forced him to retire. Dundon died several years later in 1893. According to the volume, "Since his day other deaf ball players have won distinction on the diamond, but he was practically the first one to enjoy a national reputation along this line. In the athletic annals of the Institution his name and memory will always remain illustrious." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 362_4H629_Dundon
Subjects: Deafness; Ohio School for the Deaf; Baseball--History; Baseball players; Athletes; Sports--Ohio--History;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of William Sawhill from "Historical and Biographical Souvenir of the Ohio School for the Deaf," published in Columbus, Ohio, in 1898. In addition to a history of the school's operation, the book includes "portraits and biographical sketches of representative alumni" such as Sawhill. His biographical sketch states that Sawhill was born in Pennsylvania in 1865, and after his family moved to Guernsey County, he began attending the Ohio School for the Deaf in 1873. As a young man, he worked as a laborer before joining the Ohio and Inter-State League as a professional baseball player in the spring of 1885. After several years, he found a career in the oil industry, and married another Ohio School for the Deaf alumni, Emma Kob, with whom he had four children. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 362_4H629_Sawhill_W
Subjects: Deafness; Ohio School for the Deaf; Baseball--History; Baseball players; Athletes; Sports--Ohio--History;
Places: Washington (Ohio); Guernsey County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of Collins Stone Sawhill from "Historical and Biographical Souvenir of the Ohio School for the Deaf," published in Columbus, Ohio, in 1898. In addition to a history of the school's operation, the book includes "portraits and biographical sketches of representative alumni" such as Sawhill. His biographical sketch states that Sawhill was born in Pennsylvania in 1857, and moved to Columbus to attend the Ohio School for the Deaf in 1871. He worked in the school's book bindery as a student, and also played as a left fielder for the school's baseball club the Independents for three years. Sawhill went on to work in the steel industry in Pennsylvania, but remained active with the Ohio School for the Deaf alumni organization. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: 362_4H629_Sawhill_CS
Subjects: Deafness; Ohio School for the Deaf; Baseball--History; Baseball players; Athletes; Sports--Ohio--History; Steel industry;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)