Three letters from Jackie Robinson and a 1943 report that led to his historic signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers will soon be available for public viewing after being donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the family of former owner Walter O’Malley.
Items in the Archive include documentation on the Dodgers’ pioneering move to Los Angeles; details of planning and construction of Dodger Stadium; the genesis of Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla, the first fully integrated Spring Training facility in the American south and the team’s spring training home for 61 years; materials related to the Dodgers’ goodwill tours of Japan in 1956 and 1966; and documents pertaining to Walter O’Malley’s 10-year efforts to privately fund and build a new stadium for the Dodgers in Brooklyn.
“During Walter O’Malley’s stewardship of the Dodgers, the franchise was at the center of many of baseball’s most historic moments on and off the field,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the Board for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “The Walter O’Malley Collection documents all those moments and more from his Hall of Fame career, giving researchers and historians a first-hand look at the events that changed the face of the game.”
The Walter O’Malley Archive features 70 boxes of documents and photographs and was made possible by Peter O’Malley and Terry O’Malley Seidler, Walter O’Malley’s son and daughter who took over leadership of the Dodgers upon their father’s passing in 1979. A spokesman for the Hall of Fame and Museum told SC Daily the collection is still being processed and photos aren’t yet available.
In addition to the otters, highlights of the archive include: Highlights of the Archive include:
- A 1943 report by Branch Rickey to the Dodgers Board of Directors referencing a “scouting enterprise” that would eventually result in the signing of Jackie Robinson
- Canceled checks from Walter O’Malley to Branch Rickey for the purchase of Dodgers stock in 1950 that resulted in O’Malley becoming Dodgers president
- The 1954 press release announcing the signing of Sandy Koufax
- The 1959 City of Los Angeles contract requiring Walter O’Malley to privately finance and build Dodger Stadium
- O’Malley’s appointment books from 1934-1979
During O’Malley’s years leading the Dodgers, the team won four World Series titles and 11 National League pennants. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.
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