Spottswood Poles Collection

1681 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 06/2016. Last revised 06/2022

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

TECHNICAL ACCESS: This collection contains two oral history interviews. These are available as digital audio files and require a computer to play back. Please consult Archives Staff for assistance in accessing the audio.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.21 Linear feet

DATE: 1898-2019  

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Spottswood Poles Collection contains material related to Spottswood Poles, who was born in Winchester, Virginia, and went on to play baseball with the Negro League and served in World War I veteran. Material includes manuscripts, baseball career statistic sheets, census records/city directories, newspaper articles, military records, vital records, and articles and other ephemera. Also included are two oral history interviews with Spottswood Poles Sr., and former Winchester Mayor Elizabeth Helm, both of whom discuss memories of Poles.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Spottswood Poles was born on November 7, 1886, in Winchester, Virginia. At a young age Poles moved to Harrisburg, PA, where he started his baseball career with the Harrisburg Giants. Poles married Bertha Gibson on September 19, 1905. Midway through his baseball career Poles enlisted in the army in 1917. He fought for the 93^rd Division of the 369^th Infantry of the U.S. Army and he served in France. He returned home in 1919 with five battle stars and a Purple Heart while gaining the rank of sergeant. Once he returned, he went back to playing baseball. Poles retired from baseball in 1923 with an outstanding batting average of .309 and 160+ stolen bases. After his retirement Poles held many jobs including chauffer, mechanic, and baseball manager. On September 12, 1962, Spottswood Poles died of cancer at age 75, at the VA Hospital in Lebanon, PA. Poles was buried at Arlington Cemetery at section 42, site 2324. 

In April 2020, the City of Winchester erected a historic marker at 502 N. Kent Street near the site of Poles’s birthplace. In 2019, the City renamed a street near the baseball fields at Jim Barnett Park in Winchester for Poles.

RELATED MATERIAL: Ellsworth Turner Collection, 204 THL.

CITE AS: Spottswood Poles Collection, 1681 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Archives staff collected materials in this collection to support the application for placement of a historic marker near Poles’s birthplace.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

Baseball Career (folder contains the following):
Seamheads.com Spottswood Poles Career Stat Sheet, 2 pages
Forgotten Heroes: Spottswood Poles, written by Dr. Layton Revel and Luis Munoz, 2013, 30 pages, manuscript.
Spot Poles, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, NY: 1994, in eMuseum, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, 1 leaf
Spot Poles from Wikipedia.org, 2 leaves
Ship Manifest from Havana to New York, 1911, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy)

Census Records/ City Directory Excerpts (folder contains the following photocopies):
1898-1899 Directory of Winchester, 2 pages
1900 Winchester Census- 1leaf
1900 Winchester Census – 1 page, 1 manuscript
1900 French Pales (Poles) – 1900 Federal Census 2 pages
1905 Harrisburg City Directory- 1 leaf
1907 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf
1908 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf
1909 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf
1910 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf
1910 Harrisburg City Census Record- 3 leaves
1920 New York City Census Record- 2 leaves
1925 New York City Census Record- 2 leaves
1936 Winchester City Directory- 1leaf
1943 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf
1945 Harrisburg City Directory-1leaf

Events (folder contains the following):
Spottswood Poles Night Flyer (3), 1 leaf printed
Winchester Star Newspaper article, Spottswood Plaque Dedication, Monday June 17, 2019. 2 leaves, printed.
Spottswood Poles Baseball Card, printed.
Spottswood Poles Night Program, 1page, printed.
Spottswood Poles Night Website Flyer, 1 leaf, printed.

Oral History Interviews (folder contains the following):
Reid Poles Sr. and Reid Poles Jr. Interview Transcript, 6-21-2019, 9 pages, typescript.
Elizabeth Helms Interview Transcript, 5-30-2019, 4 leaves, typescript.
Reid Poles Sr. and Reid Poles Jr. Interview Questions, 3 leaves, typescript.  
* Audio files of these interviews are available to researchers. Please ask staff for assistance.

Military Records (folder contains the following):
World War II Registration Card, 2 leaves, April 26, 1942, manuscript (photocopy)
World War I Military Service Report, 2 leaves, September 3, 1920, manuscript (photocopy)
Record of Award from World War I, 7-18-1944, 1leaf, manuscript (photocopy)
Abstracts of National Guard Service in World War I, October 24, 1917, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy)
National Guard Ship out Passenger List, December 12, 1917, 1leaf, manuscript (photocopy)
National Guard Return Date Passenger List, February 12,1919, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy)
Chapter 3 from Harlem Hell Fighters, 2003, 10 leaves (photocopy)
369^th Infantry Regiment, Wikipedia, 4 leaves (photocopy)
Headstone Application for Arlington National Cemetery, September 27, 1962, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy)

News Articles (folder contains the following):
Winchester Star 7-14-1990, 5 leaves, printed.
Winchester Star 9-13-1997, 2 leaves, printed.
Winchester Star 8-30-1997, 3 leaves, printed.
Winchester Star 8-20-2018, 2 leaves, printed.
Winchester Star 4-17-2019, 2 leaves, printed
Winchester Star 5-22-2019, 1 photocopy of sign
Arlington Cemetery Website 9-06-2004, 4 pages, printed.
Winchester Star 2-8-2017 1 leaf, printed
Passage from Only the Ball Was White, page 248, leaf, printed. 
Spotswood Poles, Arlington Cemetery.net, 2 leaves, printed
Spotswood Poles, Chatterfromthedugout.com, 2 leaves, printed

Vital Records (folder contains the following):
Spottswood Poles Timeline (2), 3 leaves- typescript.
Birth Record, 1886, 1 leaf (photocopy)
Marriage License, 1902, 1 leaf (photocopy)
Death Record, 1962, 1 leaf (photocopy)
Malinda Poles Obituary, 1-17-1914 (photocopy)

PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed online through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com/