Rochester (N.Y.) sports memorabilia collection

Collection — Box: 1-7

Identifier: 2018-003

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of Rochester, New York sports memorabilia collected by Rochester, New York based lawyer, Loren Kroll. The materials date between 1946 and 2013. The materials consist of game programs, tickets, photographs, and 3-D objects from the Rochester Red Wings, Syracuse Orange, Rochester Royals, other Rochester, New York based major and minor league teams, as well as national games and championships.

The Rochester Red Wings series consists of ephemera, programs, game tickets, and team photographs. It contains three autographed baseballs, two jerseys, a brick from the walk of fame, and a Red Wings schedule plastic cup. The baseballs were autographed by the 1956 Rochester Red Wings team, the Rochester Red Wings players from the Old Timers game in 1980, and Mike Epstein. The jerseys are from 2007 and 2008. It also contains programs from 1948 to 2008. The programs are an almost complete series. The program years that are not included in the collection are: 1949, 1969, 1979, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The 1972 program is autographed by Bob “The Bullet” Reynolds. The 1974 program is signed by Joe Altobelli. The early programs are annotated with notes including player statistics, scores, and other notes regarding the game. The series also consists of team photographs; some are autographed. It includes the programs from Inaugural Season at Frontier Field in 1997 and the last season at Silver Stadium in 1996.

The other series mainly consist of programs, team photographs, and game tickets. The Rochester Royals series contains some 3-D objects; Rochester Royals 1950-1951 championship pennant, scrapbook of newspaper clippings regarding the Rochester Royals, an enlarged photograph of the 1984 Rochester Royals banquet, and an undated Rochester Royals schedule poster.

Dates

Creation: 1946-2013

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is held by the Rochester Public Library, Local History and Genealogy Division. Copyright of the papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors’ heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder[s] of copyright and the Local History and Genealogy Division before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library’s usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Administrative History

Rochester, New York has several sports teams. Rochester was named the top minor league sports market in the country by Street and Smith’s Sport Business in July 2005. It was also named the number 10 “best golf city” in America by Golf Magazine in 2007 and the fifth-best “sports town” in the country by Scarborough Research in September 2008.

As recently as 1994, there were only two professional sports franchises in Rochester: the baseball Red Wings and the hockey Americans. Since then, a number of new teams have been instituted most of which have been very successful. In 2007, among cities in North America with at least seven (at the time) professional teams, Rochester was determined to be the only one whose teams all had cumulative winning regular season records.

Rochester Sports Teams:

Rochester Red Wings, baseball

Rochester Americans, hockey

Rochester Knighthawks, indoor lacrosse

Rochester Rhinos, Soccer

Rochester Razor Sharks, Basketball

Rochester Royals (1945-1957), Basketball

Rochester Lancers (2011-2015), indoor soccer

Rochester Zeniths (1977-1983), basketball

Rochester Rattlers (2001-2008, 2011-2017), field lacrosse

Rochester Raiders (2006-2008), arena football (Continental Indoor Football League)

Rochester Brigade (2001-2003), arena football (af2)

Rochester Greywolves (2008-2013), box lacrosse (Can-Am Senior B League)

Rochester Griffins (1974), box lacrosse (National Lacrosse League)

Extent

2.0 Cubic Feet (6 boxes )

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Arrangement

This collection consists of six boxes divided into eleven series:

Series I: Rochester Red Wings, 1948-2008

Series II: Syracuse Orange, 1982-2005

Series III: PGA, 1960-2013

Series IV: Rochester Press-Radio Club Day of Champions, 1985-2003

Series V: Rochester Royals, 1946-1990

Series VI: Rochester Americans, 1956-1975

Series VII: Rochester Lancers, 1979-1980

Series VIII: Rochester Razor Sharks, 2005-2006

Series IX: Rochester Rhinos, 1996

Series X: Rochester Zeniths, 1979-1980

Series XI: Miscellaneous, 1975-2003

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to the Rochester Public Library, Local History and Genealogy Division by Loren H. Kroll on September 22, 2016 [Accession number 2018.001]. Three Rochester Royals programs from 1953-1955 were donated to the Rochester Public Library, Local History and Genealogy Division by Cynthia at the Buffalo History Museum Research Library, 1 Museum Court, Buffalo, NY 14216 on August 9, 2017 [Accession number 2018.002]. Memorabilia and programs were donated by Kevin F. Yost on February 20, 2018 [Accession number 2018.016]. A collection of Rochester Red Wings press guides and yearbooks was given to the Local History and Genealogy Division by the Friends Book Store in May of 2019 [Accession number 2019.034].

Bibliography

"Bob Matthews Sport Column." Democrat and Chronicle. (Rochester, N.Y.), July 21, 2007. Accessed January 13, 2018.

Processing Information

The materials in this collection were originally divided by sports team and then chronologically. The archivist kept the original order but refined the chronology. The game tickets were stored inside the programs. The archivist removed the tickets from the programs and placed them in envelopes and then folders.