John Wesley Donaldson

Newspaper Clippings about Southpaw Pitcher John Donaldson

Newsletters

Newsletters are placed newest to oldest.

2012 Summer Newsletter

Posed June 6, 2012 (Click Here)
"The Minnesota African American Museum opens soon, featuring a John Wesley Donaldson Display! We also take a closer look at the article that launched the Donaldson Network from the 1914 Wells Advocate. Zoom in with your pdf reader to read every word of the original article yourself! We take a closer look at film and photos, and investigate Sylvestor "Hooks" Foreman, a long-time catcher for John Donaldson. We look at some of the famous baseball parks, and what John Donaldson did during his scouting years with the MLB."

2012 Winter Newsletter

Posted February 12, 2012 (Click Here)
"John Donaldson's rookie card shows up, 70 years later. We unwrap the mystery of a 1950s photo Donaldson posed for that ended up in The Sporting News. Rich from Canada, Chris from Washington State, and Aaron from Kansas City make some incredible finds (in places no one knew to even look!), and the Donaldson Network gains a couple more awards."

2011 Summer Newsletter

Posted July 13, 2011 (Click Here)
"We mourn the passing of a valuable Donaldson Network member, and celebrate new findings in our effort to uncover history. This version of the Donaldson Network Newsletter takes us to over a dozen states, and even takes us as far away as Japan! We check in on "Krock Watch" to find the next soul who has been given a proper grave marker. And, we started something new, including your opinions on why this work has been important, informative, or interesting to you!"

2011 Winter Newsletter

Posted February 3, 2011 (Click Here)
"Just in time to celebrate Black History Month, we continue to celebrate the life and career of John Wesley Donaldson. The latest discoveries include picture comparisons showing John Donaldson, Frank Blattner, Jose Mendez, Mr. George "Chief" Walla, and several other team members from the All Nations traveling baseball team. We also take a look at the Goldsmith business who once funded the All Nations baseball team. We are excited about this month's "Krock Watch" where Dr. Jeremy Krock is the focus of an ESPN story to air in February."

2010 Summer Newsletter

Posted August 25, 2010 (Click Here)
"More video, more networking, more cooperation, and more interesting stories appear in the latest researcher newsletter for the John Donaldson network. This is the first newsletter to explore the story of Elmer Brandell. And the newsletter features an article with fellow researcher Todd Peterson and his new book, Early Black Baseball in Minnesota."

2009 Winter Newsletter

Posted December 26, 2009 (Click Here)
"Read the latest Newsletter, including "Scouts Speak," the Burr Oak Cemetery Update, and the "hat mystery," including much, much more. - The newletter comes as the website johndonaldson.bravehost.com continues to change for the better each year. The Donaldson Network continues it's effort, uncovering over 355 pitching wins. A suprising find comes from North Dakota, where some All Nations' letterhead has surfaced from 1923! Read the December Newsletter about some fellow researchers who have helped advance John Donaldson's historic career, as well as research efforts of their own."

2008 Summer Newsletter

Posted July 13, 2008 (Click Here)
"Read the latest Newsletter about John Donaldson's 355th win - The Donaldson Network continues it's effort, uncovering over 350 pitching wins. Some of the latest wins we discovered came as far away as Brooklyn, New York. Read the July Newsletter about some fellow researchers who have helped advance John Donaldson's historic career, as well as research efforts of their own."

2008 Winter Newsletter

Posted November 5, 2008 (Click Here)
"The first Donaldson Network Newsletter - While awaiting the birth of his second child, and first son, Pete Gorton decided to start a newsletter to say thanks to everyone who has helped, and keep anyone interested in our progress toward uncovering Donaldson's career. Tim, Todd, Steve, Lila, Sam, and Marty make some of the mentions for researchers who have continued to keep forward progress in an effort some experts have called, "impossible."

Research Tools

Some of the tools we use to keep the network moving forward.

Missing Games

Missing Dates (Click Here)
"Since many of the newspapers list where Donaldson played before or after the dates we have, and we have used these references to help develop our calendars.. The Missing Dates list is an updated list we developed to help researchers look for obvious (but often difficult) places where were are pretty sure Donaldson played base ball."

John Donaldson Photo Album

Year-by-Year Description of Donaldson Photos (Click Here)
"In an effort to help researchers compare found photos with verified photos, we have compiled this file of most of the John Donaldson photos already in our files."

Identifying and Documenting Photos

Hopkins Brothers Photos (Click Here)
"We are pushing to get photos online so that researchers now and in the future can better identify players. We have some potential names for some of these ballplayers, but are looking for more solid evidence, and a comparison photo (maybe even one that's already been identified by an original source).
    We are always looking, and to our surprise, pictures and more games are always showing up. Just this month, we received two or three more photos of John Donaldson in his later years. This is just amazing!"