Montreal's Detorimier Downs Baseball Stadiurn As Business
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Montreal's Detorimier Downs Baseball Stadiurn as Business and Centre of Mass Culture, 1928-1 960 By Robert Harry Pearson A thesis submitted to the Department of History in cunfonnity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada December, 1998 copyright (Q Robert Hamy Pearson, 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wdlingtm OttawaON K1AW OttawaON K1AW Canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, districbute or sell reproduire, prêter, disîribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/fih, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent êeimprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract Montreal's Delorimier Doms Stadium was home to the Montreal Royafs of the International Baseball League from 1828 to the condusion of the 1960 season when the Royals folded. The stadium stood another nine yean after the Royals disappeared. and was dernolished in 1969 to make rwm for a high school. The most popular resident of Delorimier Dams was Jadtie Robinson, Major League (referred to as otganized basebal1 in the remainder of the thesis) basebell's first black of the twentieth century. He played one season. 1946, in Montreal. but made a notable impact on the city. Dunng that year, while he faced a great deal of prejudice in other baseball cities, Robinson was gradually accepted by Montrealers. who were at first reludant to admit his baseball ability. He was eventually endorsed by the Anglophone press, however, upon which I have relied for newspaper wverage. Delorirnier Downs was also a business. It made a major contribution to municipal inwme through the city's Amusement Tax. The building was never owned by the city, aithough municipal ownership was considered in 1936 and again in 1953. In 1936, the city nearfy possessed the ballpark to compensate for unpaid taxes; in 1953 it considered ownership as part of a bid for the St. Louis Browns. ln both instances, municipal ownership would have enhanced the profitability of the stadium. During its 41-year existence Delorimier Downs was home to thousands of sports events, and dozens of cultural undertakings. Over the years. it hosted pageants, a mas$ wedding, winter carnivals and cireuses. Indoors, on the concourse, the stadium boasted a roller nnk and a dance hall, and was host to popular trade promotions such as the home and auto shows. Conceived as a ballpark, Delorirnier Downs became much more over its lifetime. Acknowledgements The author of the present thesis wishes to thank a number of people for their support and kindness dunng research and wriüng of this projed. Joyce, rny wife of two and a haif years, has been wonderful in her rekntless support of my education. She has tolerated incessant rambling about a topic ssh has fittle love for; she has tolerated my emotions and seFconfidenœ as they changed throughout the process; she has been the keadwinner. Above all, ohe has ken a kind, loving, and supportive friend throughout the thesis proœss. WRhout her this would not have ken possible. My parents have been rny other pillar of support throughout my education. Wnhout them I would not have sought higher education. They have provided ernotional and financial support since I first suggested an interest in a univenity education. They too have made this thesis possible. 1 also wish to thank Bryan Palmer. His supervision of this thesis has been supportive and encouraging. He too has had to tolerate swings in my setf-confidence, yet has stuck with me throughout. The Queen's University Department of History surprised me three years ago when it accepted me into its graduate programme. Sinœ then it has not only acœpted me, but supported me with generous of Teaching Assistant assignments and Queen's Graduate Awards funding. Without this financial support, life would have been substantially different. Many thanks to the Department of History for making my graduate studies possible. Four Montrealers, who attended sporting events at DeIon'mier Downs ftom the 1940s onwards, kindly accepted my request for inteMews. I thank former Montmal Royals player Kennit Kitman for his hospitaMy, which induded box tickets to a Montreal Expos game; Montreal television personality Don McGowan for his time and lunch; as well as Concordia University professor Graeme Decarie, and Montreal sportsWnterlkoadcaster Lany Fredericks. Ail of these men offerad useful insights and answers to my questions. I also wish to thank the City of Montreal Archives for expediting my document requests, and providing a friendly research atmosphere. I wish to thank my felfow students and other mernbers of the Queen's community whose support and friendship have made the experience enjoyable. In no specific order, they are: Ross Cameron, Jamie Murton, David Regéczi, Jennifer Marotta, James Hoffner, Ann Perry, James McCrostie, Michael Dawson, Catherine Gidney, Lara Campbell, Michael Dufresne, Cam McEachern, Scott Vokey, and others who every Wednesday fled Watson Hall for Jock Harty Arena. I also thank George Henderson of the Queen's University Archives. While rny research for the present thesis did nat touch upon Queen's holdings, Mr. Henderson's support during other research pmjects continued throughout my stay at Queen's. This thesis is dedicated to three people wtiose influence on my life has been immeasurable. First, it is dedicated to Joyce. My wife, my best friend, my everything. Life without her does not make sense. Second, to Victor Davis. His death nine years ago lefl a profound void in the lives of many. Once a teammate and friend, his passion for sport and Iife continues to inspire me daily. Finally, to Keith J. Lowther. Keith was a Ph.D. candidate at Concordia University until his death in 1997. Throughout rny years at Concordia. his fnendship and guidance inspired me to continue my education at the graduate level. It is my wish that his work someday corne to fruition in the hands of a similariy comptent scbolar. He is sadly missed, and will be remembered ahys. Table of Contents Adviowledgements List of Tables Cha pter I - Canadian Baseball: Historiography and Controversy . Chapter 2 - Montreal Baseball History and the Stadium. 19 Chapter 3 - From 'Coloured Cornet' to Ball Player: The Acceptance of Baseball's 34 First Black in Montreal, 1946. Chapter 4 - The Stadium the City Alrnost Med:Montreal Contemplates 59 Municipal Ownership of Delorimier Downs, 1936 and 1953. Chapter 5 - The Ballpark as Cultural CentrHelorimier Downs from Ballpark, to 87 Wedding Chapel, tu High School, 1928 - 1969. Chapter 6 - Conclusion. 120 Bibliography. 126 Tables Table 4-1 Municipal Property fax Evaluations for Delonmkr Downs, 192û-1968. Table 4-2 ûetaik of Liquidation of Delorimier Downs, 1936. Table 4-3 Extended Details of Montreal Exhibition Company Liquidation lncluding Potenüal Municipal Ownership Revenue. Table 44Montreal Municipal Property Tax Figures for Delorhier Downs: 1928, 1936, and 1953. Table 4-5 Amusement Tax Records For Delorimier Downs. t93&W4O. Table 4-6 1928 Taxes ûwing for Montreal Exhibition Company Ltd. Table 4-7 Details of 1937 Street and Sidewalk Taxes. Table 4-8 Estimated lncome For Stadium Prepared for 1953 bid for Municipal Ownership. Table 4-9 Attendance Figures After Word War II. 83 Chapter 1 - Canadian BasebaII: Historiography and Controvemy Canadian baseball history, William Humber tells us, has a 'magnifiœnt heritage' that began with the Beachville game in 1838 and culminated in the Toronto Blue Jays 1992 and 1993 World Series victories.' Throughout the late nineteenth. and into the rniddle of the twentieth œntury, baseball was the most popular sport in canada? with the sport's development mnning parailel to the Amencan game, and eventually became pari of it as leagues in Canada adopted the 'New York niles.' and cross-border leagues proliferated. Untii then, like hockey later in the nineteenth century, local variants of the game could be found from tom to town across the country.' During the 1880~~baseball leagues were organized in large cities across Canada. and inter-town play began arnong small toms linked together by rail. Many of these ephemeral leagues disappeared before the tum of the century, but the sport's populanty continued, with the early 1900s "witness[ingJ the massive expansion of clubs, intra-city and inter-cQ leagues. and the involvement of vanous institutions in the promotion of the game? During the late nineteenth and eariy twentieth centuries, Canada had three professional teams connected with organhed baseball (Le., part of the hierarchy of major league baseball and its minor leagues), the Montreal Royals and the Toronto ' William Humber, Diamonds of the North: A Concise Hktory of Baseball in Canada, (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1995), 1. Alan Metcalfe. Canada Lems to Pley: me Emergence of Organized Sport, 1807-1914, Canadian Social History Series, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987), 9598; Nancy and Maxwell Howell, Sports and Games in Canadian Lifie: 7 700 to the Present. (Toronto: Macmillan, 1971). 281; Don Morrow et al.. A Concise History of Sport in Canada, (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989), 128; David Bernard highlights the popularity of the Guelph Maple Leafs in The Guelph Maple Leafs: A Cufhiral lndicator of Southern Ontario,' Ontario History, MXXW, 3 (September 1992): 21 1-223; and Janice Waters, "Sporting trends in major Canadian cities 1927- 1935." Pmcwdings: 5th Canadien Sm um on the Hktory of WRand Physkal Educatbn, (Toronto: University of Torondo Press, 1&* 21 5226.