[KS] Cheering and sports

Sayers, Robert RSayers at neh.gov
Mon Jan 5 11:54:00 EST 2004


I own a glass lantern slide dated 1910 showing members of the YMCA Baseball
Team posing with their bats and gloves.  Even if last year's feature film
took some dramatic liberties with the story, it provides a very interest
context for the photograph.    

Robert H. Sayers

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Armstrong [mailto:chonan99 at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 12:07 AM
To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Subject: RE: [KS] Cheering and sports

I believe that the introduction of baseball is even earlier than the YMCA.  
The American marines held several games in a vacant lot near the Great East 
Gate (might have been South Gate - don't have my notes) in 1898.  The 
players were the marines stationed as guards for the legation and some of 
the western citizens of Seoul and the spectators were Koreans and Westerners

mixed.  Most of the early 'western' sports introduced into Korea took place 
during the 1890s with the influx of military guards stationed at the various

legations.

I know that the Oriental Mining Company in Wonsan area also held baseball 
games in the late 1900s, and, undoubtedly, some of the Korean workers must 
have participated in them.

Robert Neff

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