SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER MS 532

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records, ca. 1908-2017

Written by Jeffrey Monseau January 2019

Total Shelf space occupied .25 linear feet Total Number of boxes 1 box

ABSTRACT

Leslie Mann was born on November 18, 1893 in Lincoln, Nebraska. While attending Lincoln high school, Mann lettered and made All-state in three sports: basketball, , and football. Mann attended Springfield College from 1911 to 1913 and received a Bachelor of Physical Education in 1925 and a Bachelor of Science in 1941, the delays mainly due to his Major League Baseball career. Mann is widely regarded as one of the most talented athletes to attend the college, becoming the first freshman to make the varsity football team and his football performance against Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indians, where he scored almost all the points for Springfield College. Mann played Major League Baseball from 1913 to 1928, ending his career with .282 batting average. He played for the Boston Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, , New York Giants, and . He was a member of the 1914 "Miracle" Braves team that went from last place to winning the pennant that year. During and after his career, he coached football, basketball, and baseball, including coaching at Springfield College as a basketball coach from 1924-1926. Mann also established one of the earliest known Baseball training programs. This training included several inventions, including the Mannscope, an innovative projector to use with his training films, and the See-how, a handheld 16mm viewer to show athletes how to play sports. An advocate for Baseball and Sport in general, Leslie Mann helped found the USA Baseball Congress, the International Amateur Baseball Federation, and was instrumental in bringing Baseball to the 1936 Berlin Olympics as exhibition sport.

Materials in this collection include correspondence, pamphlets, books, news releases, newspaper articles, magazine articles, baseball cards, glass (lantern) slides, and photographs created by or collected by various offices at Springfield College. Materials date from 1908 through 2017. Most of the materials within the collection consist of correspondence between the Springfield College Alumni Affairs Office and Leslie Mann about his work with U.S.A. Baseball Congress, the International Amateur Baseball Federation, and the See-how. There are also books and Lantern Slides used in “The Fundamentals of Baseball” training program created by Leslie Mann.

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 2 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

INFORMATION ON USE OF THE COLLECTION

TERMS OF ACCESS AND USE

Finding Aid: Unrestricted This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA).

Materials in Collection: Unrestricted use

PREFERRED CITATION Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information (in addition to any other information required by the citation style being used):

MS532 – Leslie Mann Springfield College Records, box #, folder #, Archives and Special Collections, Springfield College, Springfield, Mass.

HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION Materials come from various department offices at Springfield College or were acquired and/or purchased by the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections. Offices represented were Office of Alumni Relations and Office of the President. This is listing of the known acquisitions:  ACQ-0099-2017 - Baseball Fundamentals by Leslie Mann  ACQ-0100-2017 - Leslie Mann Boston Brave Quilt Square  ACQ-0101-2017 - Leslie Mann 1916 Blank Bank Baseball Card  ACQ-0102-2017 - Leslie Mann 1923 Cincinnati Reds Baseball Card

Collection arranged, and Finding Aid written by Jeffrey Monseau, January 2019.

ARRANGEMENT Since materials came from different sources at different times, there is no original arrangement inherent in the collection.

RELATED MATERIALS In Archives and Special Collections, Springfield College, Springfield, Mass.:

Digital Collections – For all Digital Images and Documents within the collection

Digital Images and Documents - For all Digital Images and Documents on Leslie Mann within the Springfield College Archives Digital Collection

Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection - For complete collection of Leslie Mann’s Baseball coaching program

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 3 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

Archival Records within Springfield College

MS533 - Channing R. Mann Springfield College Records MS535 – Leslie Mann Papers The Springfield Student Springfield College Alumni Magazines Springfield College Athletic Department Records Springfield College Football Team Records Springfield College Basketball Team Records Springfield College Marketing and Communication Records--Scrapbooks and News Clippings

Archival Records Outside of Springfield College

The Giametti Research Center at the Baseball Hall of Fame: https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/education/research

There is a player folder full of various materials on and from Leslie Mann, including some correspondence. In addition, they have a Mannscope projector. Some materials have been digitized, see here.

Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame: http://nebhalloffame.org/inductees/by-name/

There are some materials donated by Leslie Mann III (Grandson) and maybe even by Channing Mann concerning his career at Lincoln High School. These including many early team photos.

LA84 Foundation Sports History Library: https://la84.org/

Library collections hold around eight films, maybe more, created by Leslie Mann. These films date from the 1920s through the 1940s. They are baseball, football and Basketball training films. They have transferred them from 16mm to VHS tape.

Books and Manuscripts

Mann, Leslie. 1939. History and Development of the U.S.A. Baseball Congress and the International Amateur Baseball Federation: John Moore's Cup Series. World's Amateur Baseball Championship. Springfield, Mass.: author. Online Resource Record: https://springfieldcollege.on.worldcat.org/oclc/30948614; Online Version: https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/20987

Mann, Leslie. 19AD. Basketball Notes. Online Resource Record: https://springfieldcollege.on.worldcat.org/oclc/851576515; Online Version: https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/20988

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 4 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

DeGroat, Harold Stephen, and Leslie Mann. 1935. Baseball Instruction Course, Springfield College, Springfield, Mass. : Baseball Theory Notes Based Upon Leslie Mann's Mannscope Motion Picture Course and Other Material. Springfield, Mass.: publisher not identified. Online Resource Record: https://springfieldcollege.on.worldcat.org/oclc/31440991; Online Version: https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/18678

Lowenfish, Lee. 2007. Branch Rickey: baseball’s ferocious gentleman. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Online Resource Record: https://springfieldcollege.on.worldcat.org/oclc/71552176.

Chetwynd, Josh, and Brian Belton. 2007. British Baseball and the West Ham Club: History of a 1930s Professional Team in East London. Online Resource Record: https://springfieldcollege.on.worldcat.org/oclc/72871313

Online Resources

Society for American Baseball: Les Mann; Bouchard, Maurice. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9e10a544

Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mannle01.shtml

SEARCH TERMS AND SUBJECTS The following terms represent persons, organizations, and topics documented in this collection.

Springfield College Springfield College--Football Springfield College--Basketball Springfield College--Basketball--Men Springfield College--Sports Springfield College--Sports--Men Springfield College--Baseball Springfield College--Baseball--Men Springfield College--Alumni and alumnae Springfield College--Faculty Baseball Coaches Coaches (Athletics) Mann, Leslie Lantern Slide DeGroat, Harold S. Major League Baseball (Organization) American League of Professional Baseball Clubs National League of Professional Baseball Clubs Mannscope See How Mann, Channing R. Thorpe, Jim, 1887-1953 Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 5 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

BIOGRAPHY NOTE

Leslie Mann was born on November 18, 1893 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He stayed in Lincoln throughout his childhood, attending Lincoln High School. While in high school, Mann lettered and made all-state in three sports. Along with being incredibly talented in these three sports, which were basketball, baseball, and football, Mann was also a track star in high school.

Mann attended Springfield College from 1911 to 1913 where he maintained his exceptional football and baseball ability. Mann became the first freshman to make varsity football at the college. He is most well-known for his football performance against Jim Thorpe and the Carilse Indians, as Mann scored 18 of his team’s 24 points and competed with Thorpe, who said that “Never have I had such an opponent in a game”. Here, it is clear that Mann was not only the star of his team, but he was also one of the best football players in the country. Mann is considered one of the greatest athletes to ever attend Springfield College, which was shown by the fact Mann was one of the first five men inducted into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame, alongside James Naismith and Alonzo Stagg. Being inducted with such notable figures and accomplished athletes shows just how important Mann’s athletic achievements were to Springfield College.

Leslie Mann didn’t finish college originally because he was signed to the Boston Braves. Because of this, one could surmise that the creation of his lantern slides could have contributed towards his degree. Mann played for the Braves, Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, and Giants over the course of his career and was pretty much an average baseball player, with a career batting average of .282. Mann was a member of the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves team, which came back from last place halfway through the season and eventually won the World Series.

Leslie Mann’s contributions to baseball while playing and after retiring are what makes him so important. Along with creating these lantern slides which show some of the important elements and techniques related to the game of baseball, Mann also wrote books about baseball and created the first baseball school. He enlisted the help of some of the best players in his time period to be teachers at the school, including Rogers Hornsby and Grover Alexander. His stress of fundamentals, both in teaching classes and in books, was very important and helpful to players in developing their baseball skills. Mann was also a coach of many different sports and teams throughout his life after retiring from baseball.

Leslie Mann is also well-known for being one of the major contributors to spreading baseball across the globe. Mann lived in the era where baseball was beginning to become popular in the United States, and he aimed to spread that popularity by adding baseball to the Olympics. He was eventually able to introduce baseball to the Olympics which helped spread the game of baseball to other areas of the world. Spreading the game only helped increase the popularity of the sport, giving it a deeper social and cultural significance.

Because of the phenomenal contributions Mann made to baseball, it is a surprise that he is not more of a household name today. Without Mann’s influence, the popularity of baseball may never have accelerated into what it is today since he really helped spread the sport across the world. Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 6 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

During the 1920’s, the equipment, stadiums, and social impact and importance of baseball were much different. However, the 1920’s also marked an important transition in baseball, as the way the sport was being played began to change dramatically which helped increase the popularity of baseball. From 1900 to 1920, baseball was characterized as being a low scoring defensive sport, also known as the Deadball Era. Many of the players in this era were known for their pitching or fielding dominance, while there were very few home runs and runs scored per game. For example, Heinie Groh of the Cincinnati Reds is considered the best third baseman of his time period because of his defensive performance. However, in the 1920’s, emerged as a power hitter, beginning to change the way that baseball was played. The New York Yankees and Ruth transformed baseball, and the public interest in baseball also increased significantly. People became much more interested in baseball because of the emergence of many power hitters, like Ruth and Rogers Hornsby, one of Leslie Mann’s teammates. For example, because of Ruth, the attendance of New York Yankees games actually doubled, and at the time, the Yankees and New York Giants were sharing a stadium. The Giants actually told the Yankees to find a new stadium because of their frustration towards the Yankees much higher level of attendance to their games. Between 1918 and 1921, the amount of home runs hit more than tripled, and this exciting live ball era created much more interest in baseball for fans of the game. Along with this change in how baseball was played, the way the United States operated also changed dramatically. People became more interested in entertainment and leisure activities, like baseball, and the media grew tremendously, like the growth of the radio and newspapers. Having these things made it easier for people to actually get invested in baseball.

The 1920’s in baseball also experienced a huge controversy; throwing the spitball. The spitball was a popular baseball pitching type where the ball is altered by the application of saliva. This technique alters the weight on the ball, making it move towards home plate in an untypical way, which allowed many pitchers to be very successful and contributed to the Deadball Era. However, the spitball was banned from being thrown in this era, but the 1920’s marks an interesting time period because many pitchers who were already throwing the spitball were allowed to continuing throwing the spitball throughout the rest of their career even though it was banned. The 1920’s therefore represents the transition away from the spitball. Many of the pitchers included in Mann’s slides, like Bill Doak, experienced success because of the spitball, as it was one of the most important elements of the game of baseball before the 1920’s. This change marked not only a move to create a cleaner game of baseball, but it was also to increase the amount of hits in baseball since the spitball was incredibly difficult to hit. Increasing the amount of hits and home runs would only skyrocket the attendance to baseball games and the interest people had in baseball. It almost appears, therefore, that the 1920’s were the first era in baseball where monetary profit became a concern.

During the 1920’s, the equipment was much different for players than it is today. For example, players were not required to wear helmets during this time period. This caused a lot of injuries and deaths. Austin McHenry, a player for the St. Louis Cardinals, was beaned by a pitch and developed a brain tumor a few years later. Though this tumor wasn’t necessarily because of the beaning, McHenry and many other people believed it played a factor. The gloves players used were also much different. Bill Doak, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, created the glove that is still used today, which enlarged the size of the thumb hole and made it the same size as the hole for the first finger. These gloves began to be sold in the early 1920’s. Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 7 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

In the 1920’s, the stadiums began to be developed to show similarities to stadiums in baseball today. There were some advertisements posted on the walls in the outfield, most notably the Reds stadium which had many advertisements. However, because baseball was just beginning to become popular, some stadiums, like the Cardinals, had a lot of open space with few advertisements. Because of the increase in popularity of baseball in the 1920’s, teams began to develop their stadiums to better suit this increased popularity, but a lot of the fields seen in Mann’s slides had not yet been developed fully.

Overall, baseball in the 1920’s was a lot different than it is today. However, a closer look at Leslie Mann’s lantern slides and the history of baseball shows that the 1920’s marked an important transition in baseball, as the Deadball Era ended and the popularity and social and cultural significance of the sport grew tremendously.

Works Cited

 "Babe Ruth's Impact on the Game of Baseball." Babe Ruth Central, www.baberuthcentral.com/babesimpact/babe-ruths-legacy/babe-ruths- impact-on-the-game-of-baseball/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.  Wildes, Ken. "Letter to Harold Lynch." 31 Oct. 1972. https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id /21703/rec/1. Accessed 26 Jan. 2019.  Lecomte, Grace, and Clyde E. Cole. "Les Mann of Springfield." Portrait of a Champion, https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id /8959. Accessed 26 January 2018.  Mann Jr, Leslie. "Leslie Mann Jr. Letter to Harold G. Lynch." 3 Jan. 1974. https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id /21714. Accessed 26 January 2018.  "Springfield College Hall-of-Fame Links Great Athletes." L Club of Lincoln High School Red and Black Newsletter, 1973, https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id /21702. Accessed 26 Jan. 2018.  Stromberg, Joseph. "How Babe Ruth Changed Baseball." Smithsonian, 16 Aug. 2011, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian- institution/how-babe-ruth-changed-baseball-51810018/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.  Trueblood, Matt. "MLB Power Rankings: 5 Best Hitters from Each Baseball 'Era'." Bleacher Report, 1 Sept. 2011, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/826907-mlb-power-rankings-5- best-hitters-from-each-baseball-era#slide0. Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.

- Written by Daniel Hurlburt in December 2017

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 8 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

SCOPE AND CONTENT Materials in this collection include correspondence, pamphlets, books, news releases, newspaper articles, magazine articles, baseball cards, glass (lantern) slides, and photographs created by or collected by various offices at Springfield College. Materials date from 1908 through 2017.

Most of the materials within the collection consist of correspondence between the Springfield College Alumni Affairs Office and Leslie Mann about his work with U.S.A. Baseball Congress, the International Amateur Baseball Federation, and the See-how. Within the correspondence, include pamphlets, diagrams, and form letters having to do with the promotion and description of these projects. The See-how documents show how the device was marketed as Leslie Mann tried to get the college to participate in its sale.

In addition to the personal correspondence, photographic materials from his career and life, and various newspaper articles, there are also some biographical documents. This includes two manuscripts created after his death in 1962, “Portrait of a Champion” & “The Mann Brothers of Lincoln, Nebraska”. The manuscripts include copies of photographs and documents that tell about his life and career, and in the case of the later, about his brother’s, Channing Mann, career and life.

Finally, around 307 glass-plate Lantern Slides used in “The Fundamentals of Baseball” training program created by Leslie Mann and given to Springfield College in 1925 as partial completion of his Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE) degree have been included in this collection. The slides show the various skills needed to play baseball like fielding, running, sliding, and pitching. All show Major League players of the early 1920s performing the skills. Most are copyrighted in 1922 or 1923, though the exact date the photos were created is not known. Officially, these slides are in the Springfield College Theses and Dissertation Collection and are listed as part of the Rare Book Collection. Due to preservation issues, all slides were moved to the Glass Slide and Lantern Slide materials. There remains a catalog record and a call number location (GV867 .M36) in the Rare Book Collection. The book outlining the training program, “The Fundamentals of Baseball,” as well as another book that seems to contain some of the images in the slides called “Baseball Fundamentals” is within the collection.

There are five boxes of slides containing the following slides:  Box 1: 001-062  Box 2: 063-125  Box 3: 126-188  Box 4: 289-248  Box 5: 249-292 & A-L (lettered slides)

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 9 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

Folder List

BOX FOLDER CONTENTS DATE DIGITAL 1 1 Miscellaneous biographical materials, including 1908-2017? Digital Items bios, articles, and lists (Family info as well) 1 2 Alumni Relations information gathered for a 1914-1997 No Digital Items researcher (Dr. Martin Bush), including copies of news articles and biographical materials 1 3 Springfield College Hall of Fame materials 1972 Digital Items (News releases, nomination materials, biographical info) 1 4 “Portrait of a Champion” – A Tribute to Les 1972 Digital Items Mann (3 copies of manuscript) 1 5 “The Mann Brothers of Lincoln, Nebraska” (2 1962-1990? Digital Items copies of manuscript) 1 6 General Correspondence, including one letter 1955-1974? Digital Items with photos 1 7 International Amateur Baseball Federation 1938-1939 Digital Items Materials (Correspondence, Bulletin, Olympic Trials info and USA Baseball Congress Bulletin) 1 8 United States Amateur Baseball Federation 1939? Digital Items (Bulletin No. 541) 1 9 International Amateur Baseball Federation – 1940-09 Digital Items World’s Amateur Baseball Championship Poster (2 copies) 1 10 USA Baseball Congress Materials (Pamphlet, 1940? Digital Items application) 1 11 Correspondence between Leslie Mann & 1951-1952 Digital Items Springfield College Alumni Association about See-how 1 12 See-how Information (Brochures, order forms) 1950-1960? Digital Items 1 13 Newspaper Articles 1920-2016? Digital Items 1 14 Photographs 1910-1975? Digital Items 1 15 Baseball Cards (Chicago Cubs) 1910-1920? Digital Items 1 16 “Baseball Fundamentals” by Leslie Mann 1930-1940? Digital Items 1 17 “The Fundamentals of Baseball” by Leslie 1922 Digital Items Mann 1 18 Baseball Lantern Slides Used in “The 1922-1923? Digital Items Fundamentals of Baseball” training program by Leslie Mann 1 19 Quilt Patch of Leslie Mann while he was on the 1914-2000? Digital Items Boston Braves 1 20 “Baseball Instruction Course: Baseball Theory 1935 Digital Items Notes” by H.S. De Groat (based on Leslie

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 10 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts

Mann’s Mannscope Motion Picture Course 1 21 “Baseball Around the World: International 1939-1940? Digital Items Amateur Baseball Federation” by Leslie Mann

Leslie Mann Springfield College Records Page 11 Archives and Special Collections Library Services, Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts