The Cad, Part I

This is the third in a series of four guest posts by 2016 Daniels Fellow Martha Wolfe. Martha’s 2016 Fellowship focused on studying The Life of an American Sportsman: Being Reminiscences by Harry Worcerster Smith, an unpublished autobiography. I’m not sure that many people would have characterized Harry Worcester Smith as a good-for-nothing “cad;” on the other hand, […]

An International Polo Match, 1921

Today’s highlight dates back to 1921, a memento of the high drama surrounding the polo match for the Westchester Cup that year. In the NSLM Archive collection is a photo album from the match, titled An International Polo Match. The album belonged to the prominent American sportsman, F. Ambrose Clark (1881-1964). Clark was a leader in equestrian […]

Uncovering Community Connections

Many people are surprised to learn just how delicate are the threads of history. Over the Christmas holiday, we uncovered some surprising connections, and it’s all thanks to a case of mistaken identity. For the past few months, we have selected photographs from our archive collections to share on the NSLM Facebook Page for “Throwback […]

Harry Worcester Smith (1865-1945)

A good deal of attention has been paid to Harry Worcester Smith (1865-1945) at NSLM lately. NSLM holds an archive collection of Worcester Smith’s papers, and has several photographs of him, including an image of him hunting in Loudoun County, Virginia in 1910. Who was Harry Worcester Smith? A textile magnate from Massachusetts, Harry took […]

Vermont Race, Liz Whitney Tippett

The National Sporting Library & Museum recently received a donation of photographs originally from the collection of Liz Whitney Tippett. Ms. Tippett was a champion horsewoman, enjoying great success with racing and breeding Thoroughbreds throughout the 20th Century. In the 1930s, she and her first husband, John Hay “Jock” Whitney, lived at Llangollen Farm in […]

Following the Pack: Two-Day Colin Barker Photography Workshop Roundup

I woke up at 3 am on the first morning of the sold-out Two-Day Colin Barker Photography Workshop and groaned. I was the organizer of the program, and it was pouring buckets. The storm woke me up again a half hour before my alarm clock. It was still pouring. I got nervous. I wanted people […]

Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Harper

Fletcher Harper, MFH (1874-1963) was Master of the Orange County Hunt for 33 seasons, from 1920 to 1953. In 1900, the Hunt was originally organized in and named for Orange County, New York, but was relocated to Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1903. A set of Orange County Hunting Diaries from 1936 to 1969 are held […]

A Second Look at “The Hunt Scene at Middleburg”

“As a young girl, my grandmother Nancy Penn Smith Hannum inherited a kingdom she spent a lifetime fighting to protect. Goodnight Ladies is a portrait of that life – of the woman herself and the legend she became.” Christianna Potter Hannum Almost 500 people viewed a very popular Drawing Covert post from July 29, 2015, written about the photograph […]

Coaching at the Garden, 1927

The National Horse Show was founded in New York in 1883. The show rapidly grew in popularity and prominence, and by 1887, the show’s registry of members became the basis for Louis Keller’s first New York Social Register. In 1926, the National Horse Show moved into the third Madison Square Garden (MSG III) on Eighth Avenue, which […]

Hunt Scene at Middleburg, 1924

Iconic in its simple elegance, Middleburg is nestled in the idyllic countryside filled with horses grazing in pastures bounded by stone walls. For those who’ve never been, Middleburg, Virginia is foxhunting country. It wasn’t always that way; the “Great Hound Match” in 1905 put Northern Virginia on the map as prime hunting country. The following year, in […]