Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Seeking Memorabilia and Souvenirs for Museum Collection

With numerous items from Veterans Stadium providing a boost, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame is steadily building its collection of sports memorabilia. Now, with a goal of launching a mobile museum in the fall, the Philly Sports Hall is calling on area sports fans to help with contributions of artifacts, memorabilia, souvenirs and other sports items.

The Hall of Fame today launched a public participation campaign inviting Philly sports fans to donate old-time Philadelphia sports items such as game programs, scorecards, yearbooks, pennants, tickets, posters, magazines, books, newspapers, trophies, medals, antique sports equipment, baseball gloves and other sports-related material. This public input will be on display in a mobile museum and, eventually, at the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, a long-term project of the Hall of Fame.

"Over the past two years, and especially over the last six months, we've received numerous items for our permanent collection, particularly from Veterans Stadium," said Steve Tallant, director of the Hall of Fame's mobile museum. "The Phillies and Brandenburg Industrial Services Company (of Chicago, the firm handling the demolition of the Vet, http://www.brandenburg.info/) have provided us with an amazing collection of unique architectural objects from the Vet. The Fence Authority (of West Chester, http://www.fenceauthority.com) has been terrific, transporting and storing the items free of charge."

These structural objects from the Vet include turnstiles, bullpen benches, ticket windows, signage, lockers, sections of the outfield wall and large segments of the playing surface. More recent items include the original foundry molds for some of the statues at Citizens Bank Park.

The public appeal is for unique day-to-day, fan-related items to add to the Hall of Fame's collection of old-time game programs, newspapers, magazines, posters, antique sports equipment, pennants, photographs and many other items dating from late 1890's, throughout the 1900s to the present. Much of the collection will be on display in the Hall of Fame's upcoming mobile museum. Public donations have already begun including:

As a lasting tribute to her late husband, the late Kent Barney, Mrs. Grace F. Barney of Bethlehem, PA donated 54 Sports Illustrated magazines from her husband's collection of over 2100 magazines. Dating back to 1958, all with Philadelphia sports figures on the covers they include such legends as Richie Ashburn, Wilt Chamberlain and Tommy McDonald.

Anthony DeFiore, of Center Valley, PA has offered a number of limited edition Leroy Neiman prints including Philadelphia legends Mike Schmidt and Joe Frazier.

The concept is to provide local fans a means to create a lasting tribute to family members and friends like Mrs. Starner or simply to share a collection with the public like Mrs. Kownacki and Anthony DeFiore. The tax-deductible donations are acknowledged with a certificate from the Hall of Fame and will eventually be accompanied by an engraved plaque once permanently displayed at the future museum. Some objects will be on display in the mobile museum to be launched in Fall 2004.

"Unfortunately, many excellent personal sports collections end up as yard sale items or in the trash," continues Tallant. "Our unique program provides an enduring way to honor a parent, grandparent, other family member, coach, teammate, friend or colleague by sharing a loved one's collection with the public."

Information is available through the web site at: http://www.phillyhof.org/museum

Arrangements for donation can be made by calling the Hall of Fame at 215.886.6657 ext. 5 or via email to steve.tallant@phillyhof.org. Museum donations may also be sent directly to the Hall of Fame at PSHoF, 410 Waverly Road, Wyncote, PA, 19095.

The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Foundation is a Registered 501(C)(3) Non-Profit Corporation. Founded in 2002, it is a Member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations, the Maxwell Club, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums and the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame. For More Information Visit: HTTP://WWW.PHILLYHOF.ORG/