Negro and/or Cuban League Autographs
 

I've always been into collecting negro and cuban cards and memorabilia, but haven't every crossed over into any autographs.

So, I thought a thread would be a great idea for a few different things...

1. To show or tell about any autographs important in the area.

2. Any pros and cons to collecting autos in this specific area.

3. And basically I would like to meet and communicate with some leaders in this area.

Thanks for everyone's time!

Travis

Btw anyone can contact me via email at tlwise12@aol.com

I am only interested in players who played prior to 1915, so not sure how much I can help. Not only are those tough, it's hard to even find more than one example of most of them. I have autographs of W.S. Peters and Arthur Hardy, and don't know of any other exemplars. It also seems that players who played prior to 1930 are very expensive, but others on the board can give you more information.

At some point the Negro Leagues became fashionable among collectors and the autograph circuit, so the 'Buck Leonard' era players are almost freebies. I have a few of these guys if you are interested, and they are very, very cheap.

Some important Negro League autographs are those of the three women who played in the leagues. Connie Morgan and Toni Stone autos are relatively tough, whilst Mamie 'Peanut' Johnson autos are fairly affordable.

There's also a number of Negro League players still alive who sign TTM, I would recommend sending out requests to:

-Bob Motley, last living negro league umpire, won the purple heart, I believe he was one of the first African American umpires in the AAA. He usually includes extra autos if you send a TTM to him

-George Altman, 3x major league all-star, for KC Monarch, usually includes signed business card.

Hope this might help,

-Owen

....and Jlm Stlns0n is a wise guy! :)

Thanks Guys
 

Scott and Owen,

Thanks for the comments.

Scott,
As I collect cuban league Era stuff I am partial to players anywhere from 1900 thru 1930. Btw I did just pick up a really tough auto from Stinson the other day and I'll post when it arrives. The player is Oscar "Heavy" Johnson. According to Keatings book, there was only one example found in preparation of that book and I believe it to be the one I just purchased.
(Btw Stinson has a hardy for sale at the moment)
Thanks again .

I had a team produced book from around 1945 or 1946 for the Cienfuegos team that was autographed by the team and coaches. There were several Negro League players in there, including one of the coaches who was a NL player in the 1910's and 1920's. Don't have it anymore unfortunately. May have some images around somewhere if you are interested.

Tom C

Nice pickup, I gave heavy consideration to try and get it as well as I know of only one other one in the public hands.

In terms of Hall of Famers, I would say that the Negro Leagues is the toughest category as many of the early players did not receive autograph requests and some/many were rumored to be illiterate. Here are pictures of some of tougher Negro related Hall of Famers in my collection. I have others such as Stearnes, Posey and beautiful J. Johnson letter you can see in my photobucket.

Dighigo signed letter to his son-
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psbqyk24cw.jpg

Willie Foster signature from his personal bible-
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psc649f024.jpg

Effa Manley Signed Book-
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psgwkat1iw.jpg

Alex Pomez signed letter-
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...psel3s4wiq.jpg

JL Wilkinson Signed Postcard, one of less than 10 known examples. This is from his Grandson, via Jim S.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps97e07ae2.jpg

Thus my 'wise guy' post above :)

wow
 

Thanks for the post. Those are unbelievable.


Scott,
I see what you did there ( at least now I do haha).

Jim's 'Hardy' was a great example - I think $100 was a bargain, but I couldn't see buying another. Nice to know there are at least two (should be more) - they matched up perfectly! I think the reason you see so many of the other black stars' signatures, but not Hardy, is because he was a pre-1920 player, so never played in the Negro Leagues. He lived until 1980, but was VERY old, beginning his career prior to 1910.