Boston Public Library Releases Historic Fenway Park Photos
BOSTON (CBS) - Buried deep in the annals of the Boston Public Library is a treasure trove for fans of Boston baseball and now we all can see it.
The Boston Public Library is digitizing thousands of old photos of Fenway and the Red Sox.
"We have a motto here in the Digital Services Department... scan and release," says Tom Blake who runs the BPL project with the goal of showing the library's vast collection of baseball photos to the world.
With painstaking care they're taking glass negatives that go back to the turn of the century, and creating a unique chronicle of baseball in Boston.
Each fragile piece must be preserved, researched and digitized. It then all goes online.
Photos of the first days of Fenway and players through the years provide a one-of-a-kind look back.
"If you look back just into the 1950's and 60's you see people showing up dressed in suits and ties and hats, and the stands were not full," says Blake.
Many of the photos come from Leslie Jones, a sports photographer for the old Boston Herald Traveler newspaper, and a guy who sounds like he was a real character, Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevey, who owned what was thought to be the first sports bar in Boston.
The collection is remarkable in its' breadth and depth.
"I think we're privileged to not only see it, but to share it with everyone else. I think that's part of what we're doing here. It's a big show and tell," says Blake.
We've put together a gallery that includes some of those treasures here.
To see more of the photos:
Leslie Jones baseball collection
