[President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the first ball, opening day, 1916]

Share

Here the president is the subject: Woodrow Wilson is shown making the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in 1916, a moment that linked the White House to America's national pastime. Wilson was a keen supporter of baseball, and the presidential first pitch had already become a Washington tradition by then. The National Photo Company, a Washington studio that documented public life in the capital during these years, made the picture, so it reflects the press photography of the period. Look at the crowd and the posed formality of the scene for a sense of how public ceremony was staged before the age of instant snapshots.

More from the Baseball collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.