Interview Aftermath

I was able to interview Harvey for some information on the Shelby Blues. I was also told by my grandfather's brother that I could interview him, but it wasn't going to be in the project's time frame.  He also gave me a couple of leads on some people that might have information for me.  When I was informed about this, I didn't have the time to pursue these leads that had great potential.  One lead was the wife of a deceased man; he had higher standing in the organization and had coached me in Little League.  The other lead was the wife of Fred Eichinger.  He was deceased, but had a book published in 1986 called "The History of Shelby Football 1894-1985".  As I stated earlier, the 2 leads had great potential, given time to be able to contact them.

This is my interview with Harvey Traxler.  I've known him since I was a child, and he knows both sides of my family.  He was associated with the Blue in the 1970s, which was when my grandfather and my grandfather's brother played.  A lot of the people I pursued for interviews were deceased, busy, or were not able to reach.  I'm very thankful he was willing to make time for a short interview with me.

Home Field

The video preceding this post was a quick look at W.W. Skiles Field.  This is the field used by the Blues and the high school team as well.  It's located in the central of Shelby by the old firehouse and where the Shelby Middle School once stood.

Feeling the Blues

Even though I was able to look through documents and photos from the past; I don't consider my attempt a failure.  It seems like every road I took lead to a dead end.  This made it difficult, so I had to dig deeper into the web to find information that wasn't necessarily there.  I managed to find the museum's website, but it didn't give me the first person experience I was hoping for.  My

grandfather and his brother played for the Blues, but the family isn't close enough for me to access information from them.  Even after all this I still take the positives out of it.  I feel that I have came up short, but I realize the leads are not always there.  The links I found and read up on give a good look into portions of the history I was unable to uncover myself.  In reading through the newspaper articles, I found on the web, I got a feeling of pride.  At a time in history we were more relevant to people than what our current status is.  Our team played teams from Massillon, Canton, Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, and even out of state opponents.  These opponents consisted of high school, college, or other semi-pro teams.    Knowing the we had the first black professional football player makes me feel like we were part of something bigger.  We won the state championship in 1902 and that's the only one I have knowledge of.  All of this information about my community and family history was unknown to me before this documentary.  I'm hoping one of my interview leads can tell me about their involvement with the Blues.

Photos

The photos I added were of W.W. Skiles Field and The Shelby Museum of History.  Skiles Field is where the Blues played all of their home games as of the 1970s until the end of the organization.  Before then, my sources didn't have info dating back far enough to ensure this was the playing field before then.  I also wanted to post a couple of photos of the museum.  Even though I wasn't able to tour it, not a lot of people know that our small town has a museum.  Behind those doors was the information I was seeking to use on this project.

Charles W. Follis

The article on Bleacher Report says the he was the first black professional football player.  Shelby was able to acquire his talents from Wooster for 5 seasons, 1902-1906.  The man that signed him, Frank C. Schieffer, even got him a job at the Shelby hardware store.  Even though he was accepted by his teammates, Charles endured rough, violent treatment from opposing players in football games.  He would end his career in football at Shelby after an injury on Thanksgiving Day.  It's crazy to think that something this monumental, of a time in history would go through the town I grew up in.

The name, Charles W. Follis, may not ring any bells upon mention, but his place in sports history should be stated: He was the first black professional football player...

The Darkside

I have turned to the internet to unveil more info about the Blues.  It's not what my original plan was, but I'm hoping to give more of an insight into this organization.  I'll look to find old newspapers, photos, and general information about the team.

Museum Contact (No Luck)

Via Email

Me: My name is Cody Wagers and I was wondering if I could come in to look at Shelby Blues material for my English report.

Maier: I sent your email to Tom Clabaugh,as I am in Florida and he will answer your request with an answer to your email.

(I hadn't received an email back from Tom, so I kept searching)

Failed Attempts

I was able to find that there was historical material related to the Shelby Blues in our city museum.  So, I contacted them in order to retrieve information and a better look into a part of Shelby's past.  Due to limited visiting hours and individuals not being in the state at this time made it impossible to tour the museum.  Still, this did not deter me and I would move forward, seeing it is was possible to learn more while taking a different route.

This link gives information on anything football related from 1894-1904.  It has clippings from the local newspapers, Shelby News and The Shelby Daily Globe.  I'm not sure, but the information given might be from the book written by Fred Eichinger.

Uncovering the Blues

When I began, I was looking to unveil some of the history dealing with the Shelby Blues.  They we're a semi-pro football team that played for the early 1900s-1980s.  Due to the time period I was unable to find anyone closely associated with the teams through the years.  I managed to find information that they had left behind.