Posted By:
RobertS
This stereoview card was produced by Webster & Albee Publishers of Rochester, NY in the 1880s (as per card mount style, color and printing), reproducing an 1870s stereoview first issued by Bacon & Carnall. It is among the earliest photographic images of African-Americans playing baseball.
This photograph, which was taken by famous Rochester photographer F.W. Bacon, depicts a game at the House of Refuge, an orphanage in Rochester, New York. c. 1874. The view is similar to other stereoviews attributed to Bacon, that depict a game between "Colored" and "White" youths at the same facility. Very rare close-up photos of this same baseball game were also issued in Carte-de-Visite form by the same photographer.
The game shown in this card above was a mixed game with both African-American and Caucasian players seen on the field. Dark hats were used by the black team, while the jockey style caps were worn by the white boys. Interestingly, Charles R. Webster and Josephus Albee were a major publisher of pirated copies of views (with this baseball image "stolen" from Bacon & Carnall).