Boston Bloomers Women's Baseball Team PC

[Shat5]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Hi-
I recently acquired the Boston Bloomers postcard scanned below and I was wondering if anyone might be able to help with a few questions I have:
1. The postcard appears to have been sent to someone by one of the players on the team. The back reads in part, "Hello Deck! We are still playing ball ? today (10) ? innings? 4-3 ? pitching". I think it is signed by L.G.
Could this be the owner L J Galbreath? Does anyone have a list of players who played for this team in 1909?
2 Does anyone recognize any of the men on the postcard? I know I read that a few Major Leaguers played for women's teams back then. I doubt there are any recognizable players pictured but I figured I would ask.
3. Any additional information that could be provided regarding this item or the Boston Bloomers team would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

Hello Alan--

Part of the difficulty in answering any questions about the Boston Bloomer team is that there there were at least two, and possibly three, teams that called themselves the Boston Bloomer Girls between 1893 and 1909, each of which was owned and managed by a different person. I haven't been able to totally sort this out yet, but I am working on it for a chapter in my upcoming book on early women baseball players. Here is an overview of what I have pieced together so far:

W. P. Needham organized a Boston Bloomer Girl team in 1893. This is cited in articles in the Sheridan Post in 1897, the Utica Daily Press in July 1902, the Waterloo Daily Reporter on 10 Sep 1902, and the Kerkhoven [Minnesota] Banner on June 3, 1904.

An article in the Des Moines Register on April 7, 1996 says that there was also a “Boston Bloomer Girls” team created in Des Moines, IA in 1902 by J.L. “Wilkie” Wilkinson, the man who, in 1912 created the “All-Nations Team”. The Des Moines-based Boston Bloomer Girls team often wore uniforms identifying them as the “Hopkins Brothers Champion Lady Baseball Club.” Players included Celia Brown (1b), Lucy Hale (ss), and “Carrie Nation” (lf). There is a Celia Brown on the BBG featuring Maud Nelson in 1900 so I’m not sure if the Des Moines article is right or not. It’s possible there were two BBG teams and that Brown moved from one to the other. In April 1909, the Des Moines paper reported that Wilkinson had obtained the services of "J.E. Gaul, who has been connected with the Needham’s Boston Bloomer Girls for ten seasons." This confirms that Wilkinson's team was still playing in 1909 and it appears that Needham's team may also have still been playing.

L. J. Galbreath's name is also associated with a Boston Bloomer Girls team per the postcard and other sources. For example, “Amateur Baseball,” Los Angeles Herald (14 Oct 1909), p. 12. [CDNC]. “The Boston National Bloomer Girls’ baseball team, which recently defeated San Bernadino, wishes to arrange games with any club within 100 miles of Los Angeles having inclosed grounds. Answer through the Herald or communicate with L. J. [sic?] Galbreath, general delivery, Los Angeles.” It is possibly that Galbreath had bought the Hopkins Bros. team from Wilkinson because immediately following the article about Galbreath trying to find games for his team in California are other articles referencing the Hopkins Bros. club playing in California.

As I mentioned above, my research is a work in progress, so my final conclusions may change as more primary sources come to light on the teams calling themselves "Boston Bloomer Girls" in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Deb Shattuck