I Left My Heart in Cooperstown

The Man Who Made the Hall of Fame a Reality was Born in Scotland with Little Awareness of Baseball

Cooperstown was originally noted as the home of James Fenimore Cooper, the famous author of “The Last of the Mohicans.” As noted in my last column, The Mills Commission established Cooperstown as the birthplace of baseball as a result of “The Doubleday Myth.” The fewer than 2,000 people of Cooperstown supported it, but the man who made the Hall of Fame a reality was Alexander Cleland. This story today was also a part of my article for “The Freeman’s Journal” of Cooperstown that included 10 stories taken from my book in 2014 on the 75th Anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It all started when Major League Baseball (MLB) decided to build a memorial at Pinney’s Field to Abner Doubleday where Abner Graves said he was taught how to play baseball by Doubleday. So Doubleday Field was dedicated in 1920. It took a long time to build and renovate it over the next 15 years. However, a lot of the money would come from the Edward Clark family. Clark had been the lawyer for Isaac Singer, the inventor, who perfected the sewing machine. Clark and Singer formed a partnership as they became very wealthy, but even after they broke up, Clark continued to share in the company’s profits. Clark purchased a home in Cooperstown in 1854, where his wife had been raised, and got very involved in Cooperstown and developed a sense of responsibility toward the village. This involvement was passed on to his son and grand sons, especially Stephen Clark.

Stephen became a nationally known philanthropist and created the Clark Foundation. Because of Prohibition, Cooperstown no longer grew hops to make beer, so Stephen wanted to promote tourism as a way of bringing people to his picturesque village, but he wasn’t sure how to do it. Alexander Cleland was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who became a social worker and the Director of the Clark Foundation in New York City in 1931. Cleland would come up to Cooperstown several times a year to meet with his boss. So one day in 1934 when Cleland was walking through Cooperstown to go back to New York City by train, he came upon laborers who were working on upgrading Doubleday Field. He asked them what they were doing and one enthusiastic worker told him of the upcoming Baseball Centennial in 1939. Cleland found out that Cooperstown was the birthplace of baseball and Doubleday Field would be a major part of the celebration. Cleland like his boss knew very little about baseball, but he knew Clark was involved in the museum business, so he had this idea. He thought building a baseball museum in Cooperstown that would house memorabilia would be a magnet for tourists from all over the country to see the museum and build the economy of Cooperstown. He presented the idea to his boss later and he wholeheartedly backed his Director’s plans.They both knew it would require a lot of work to get the support of MLB and the people of Cooperstown. Cleland got the support of MLB, due mainly to the president of the National League, Ford Frick. Cleland wanted to have an All Star Game in 1939 as part of the celebration and Frick supported it, but Frick also wanted to have a baseball Hall of Fame to honor the stars of baseball that would become part of the museum complex. Frick pursued his idea by getting the Baseball Writers Association (BBWAA) involved. The BBWAA were completely supportive , and got involved by making the final determination who would be chosen each year for The Hall of Fame, beginning in 1936.

The National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame was publicized throughout the country as memorabilia came from fans all over the country. It was then decided to build the Museum on Main Street, some two blocks from Doubleday Field. It was completed in 1938, with the official dedication taking place on June 12 of 1939 to coincide with the Centennial Celebration. This date was so special that Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt honored The Hall of Fame on June 12, 1939 as Major League Baseball gave itself a two day holiday as well.

Cleland worked very hard with the people and various organizations of Cooperstown, Ford Frick and MLB, the BBWAA, local and national newspapers and eventually the living Hall of Famers for over five years to make The National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame become a reality. He overcame controversies, resistance, delays, and a lot of other obstacles, but never wavered as he helped make The Museum become a world wide attraction. He retired from the Hall of Fame as its Executive Secretary in 1941, and died in Whippany, New Jersey in 1954 at the age of 77.

I will close by paying tribute to the longest and oldest fan of the Hall of Fame, Cooperstown’s Homer Osterhoudt. Homer helped build the Hall of Fame and was 21 when he took many pictures during the Centennial Celebration on June 12. I’ve gotten to know Homer as I interviewed him for my book, and we have since become friends. We haven’t seen each other in a couple of years, but he is still alive at the age of 99!