Scope and Contents This collection consists of 127 pieces of fan mail written to baseball player Joe “Shoeless Joe” Jackson in the years after his retirement. The correspondence was in the form of letters and postal cards and nearly all of the letters include the original mailing envelopes. Most of the letters are fan requests for autographs. Some of the autograph requests reference an article about Jackson that appeared in the October 1949 issue of Sport magazine, titled "This Is...

Content Description 15 letters and cards written and signed by former Negro Leagues players responding to autograph collector Joel Meltzer. The correspondence ranges from small cards to multi-page letters. The authors of many letters discuss the best players they faced, answer other questions, and sometimes provide biographical details. Many letters reference photos or cards signed by the players for Meltzer. None of the letters, however, are accompanied by any signed memorabilia. There are also no envelopes or...