Fred Russell baseball biography files, ca.1920-1998 (bulk 1940-1965)
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: alphabetically by last name of ball player

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Photo negatives are restricted to staff use only.

Scope and content:Compiled by Fred Russell during his time as a sports reporter and editor at the Nashville Banner newspaper, the Fred Russell Baseball Biography Files contain 693 black and white photographs of local minor league baseball players primarily from the Nashville Vols. Major league players are also represented. The collection is arranged alphabetically by the player's last name. The materials date from 1920-1998, with the bulk of the collection being from 1940-1965. Notable people include Dizzy Dean, Bobby Doerr, Chuck Dressen, Waite Hoyt and Connie Mack. The collection also features photo negatives, printing plates and copies of newspaper clippings about some of the players.

Cite as:Fred Russell Baseball Biography Files, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

The Nashville Public Library retains intellectual property rights to the Nashville Banner Archives. Irby C. Simpkins and Brownlee O. Currey Jr. donated the copyright of the Banner Archives to N.P.L. on November 22, 2002. However, this collection may contain items for which they did not hold copyright, such as photographs submitted by companies or individuals for publication, or wire service items, and therefore rights were not transferred to the Public Library Board. In either case, items in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Irby C. Simpkins and Brownlee O. Currey;,Gift;,1999.,Acc.RT-381 The Russell baseball materials were in the possession of the Metro Archives and were later transferred to Special Collections Division in 2015.

Fred McFerrin Russell was born on August 27, 1906 to Mabel Lee McFerrin and John E. Russell. Raised in Wartrace, Tennessee, Russell attended Vanderbilt University Law School, after briefly practicing law; he joined the Nashville Banner newspaper as a sports writer in 1929. Russell was named sports editor in 1930 and went on to be the vice-president of the paper in 1955 and was later named sports director in 1969. In 1981 Russell became sports writer emeritus working at the Nashville Banner until it ceased publication in 1998. From 1949-1962, Russell wrote the "Pigskin Preview" for the Saturday Evening Post predicting the best teams in college football. He also wrote several books about sports and his life as a sports writer. They include: Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football (1938), I'll Go Quietly (1944), I'll Try Anything Twice (1945), Funny Thing About Sports (1948), Vol Fest: Records, History, and Tales of the Nashville Baseball Club in the Southern Association 1901-1950 (1950), Big Bowl Football (1963) and the autobiographical Bury Me in an Old Press Box (1957). Russell received many honors. He was awarded the Grantland Rice Memorial Award in 1955, was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1974 and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1988. Fred Russell died at the age of 96 on January 26, 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee and is buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

The Nashville Banner newspaper began publication on April 10, 1876 and ceased publication on February 20, 1998.

In English.

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_FredRussellBaseballBioFiles.pdf

The materials were accumulated by the Nashville Banner. However, they were kept separated for use by Fred Russell for his baseball reporting. They came to the Nashville Public Library along with the rest of the Nashville Banner newspaper archive donation from Irby C. Simpkins, Jr. and Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. on February 28, 1999. The Russell baseball materials were in the possession of the Metro Archives and were later transferred to Special Collections Division in 2015.

Forms part of the Nashville Banner Archives.

process;,2016-2019;,Beth Odle and Rose Mary Reed, volunteer

catalog;,2019;,Karen Piper

No further accruals are expected.