Jenny Camp, Olympian

Born in 1926 at the United States Army Remount Depot in Front Royal, Virginia (less than an hour from the National Sporting Library & Museum), Jenny Camp was named after the cavalry’s horse shows open to enlisted soldiers, women, and children, known as “Jenny Camp” shows. Despite being the daughter of one of the Army’s […]

Never Have I Ever: read “Black Beauty”: Part 1

Or, the full title, “Black Beauty: His grooms and companions. The autobiography of a horse. Translated from the original equine by Anna Sewell” Just in time for Sewell’s birthday on March 30! As mentioned in prior blog posts, I am not an equestrienne in any sense of the word. My acquaintance with horses was exactly […]

Trek of the Trakehners

The East Prussian Warmblood of Trakehner Origin, more commonly known as the Trakehaner, is a frequent occupant of the winner’s stand. The breed especially excels in dressage, but is also seen in show jumping and eventing competitions. They are admired for their athletic ability, excellent endurance, and elegant way of going. The Trakehners of today […]

Dianas of the Traps

Sadly I do not get to spend my days reading all of our amazing books, periodicals, and archives. Knowledge of the collection is built over time and through a variety of avenues. Sometimes I discover things while working on presentations, or an interesting tibit turns up while searching for some other piece of information and […]

The Oldest Book in the Collection

One of the most frequently asked questions on tours of the F. Ambrose Clark Rare Books Room is how old is our oldest book. We always ask guests to guess and they are rarely even close. Our oldest book was published in 1523, just shy of 500 years ago! Perhaps even more interesting than its […]

The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp: AKA the Duck Stamp

Recently during a presentation, I mentioned that several artists we were discussing had contributed artwork for the Federal Duck Stamp. Someone asked me what the Federal Duck Stamp was and all I really knew was that the program had been around for a long time, that the artists were originally asked to participate, and that […]

The Personalities of The Old Raby Hunt Club

George Algernon Fothergill (1868-1945) was trained as a physician but apparently found this practical career less enchanting than one as an artist. He would eventually give up medicine completely and make a living as an illustrator and artist. His work appeared in Vanity Fair magazine as well as other sporting periodicals. He also designed letterheads, […]

Saluter: King of the Virginia Gold Cup

Although the legendary horses of flat racing are generally more well known to the population at large, there are horses within the steeplechasing community that enjoy the same level of fame as any flat racer. One such hero was a bay gelding called Saluter, who would rise from inauspicious beginnings to win the Virginia Gold […]

Portraits of Fishes and How to Make Them

After exploring the NSLM’s collection of sporting books for the last four and a half years I’ve learned that while many sporting volumes were produced with commercial success in mind, many more were simply passion projects authored by true lovers of sport for the sake of celebrating a given activity and perhaps sharing their enthusiasm […]

Who Else Works at the Library and Museum?

Over the years readers of this blog have learned about objects in the collections, projects in the Library and Museum, and exhibitions on view in the Museum, through the points of view of the two librarians, Michelle Guzman and Erica Libhart, the curator Claudia Pfeiffer, and the collections manager, Lauren Kraut. This week I thought […]