Impressive size of 25x29” overall. 15x21” image area. Very large team photo with black inked text on mat “Harrisburg Giants 1906” at top. Players/positions inked at bottom “Carter, C.F./Gardner, Util. Weadricks, Scor./Poles, R.F./Potter, L.F./Tolliver, P./(second row) Mickey, P./Barton, 2B/C.W. Strothers, Mgr./Baxter, 1B/Banks, S.S. (first row)/Williams, C./Moor, 3B/Puller, C.” “Gangler Studios/Harrisburg, Pa.” studio mark appears at bottom right. The city of Harrisburg, Pa. has a long and storied involvement in the history of baseball and the Negro Leagues. The earliest baseball game on record involving a black Harrisburg club is a contest between the Pithian Club of Philadelphia and Harrisburg’s Monrovia Baseball Club on Oct. 20th, 1867. A Harrisburg resident, Jack Frye was among the second pair of black pros when he cashed a paycheck in 1883. The first professional black team was the Cuban Giants in 1885. Their roster included two Harrisburg residents – Frye and catcher Clarence Williams. A very successful integrated team of that era was the Harrisburg Ponies of 1890. Another big event in 1890 occurred in April when Col. William Strothers organized a baseball team. That team evolved into the Harrisburg Giants. Strothers ran the Giants from their beginnings in the 1890s until his death in 1933. Clarence Williams was one of the best catchers in Blackball in the 19th and early 20th century. Williams was called the “King Of Catchers” in 1889 by a reporter for the New York Age. Williams caught many notable games. In 1903, he caught the first perfect game in the annals of black ball when he was behind the plate in the X-Giants Danny McClellan’s 27 batter effort vs. York. Later that year he caught Rube Foster as the big right-hander pitched the X-Giants to the so-called “Colored Championship Of Baseball.” The deciding game of the rather unofficial World Series was played at Island Park in Harrisburg. In 1906, the great Spottswood Poles made his professional debut for the Harrisburg Colored Giants. This legendary trio of Strothers, Williams and Poles are dynamically pictured in this most impressive oversized photo. 2.25x6” upper right side/2x9.5” upper left side emulsion losses. 2” hairline at left center margin. 1x2” stain at top left of photo. Mat darkened along top edge. .5x1.5” stain at bottom center edge. VG. Rare. Only example we know of. Noticeable chipping/wear to vintage (most likely original) frame. VG. (see team image postcard #1068). From the Richard Merkin Collection and comes with Hake’s COA.