ARCH WARD - INSCRIBED SIGNATURE CO-SIGNED BY: HELEN M. WARD - HFSID 141978

ARCH WARD and HELEN WARD
Inscribed signature: "Arch Ward, with appreciation to/Hildegarde, a .400 hitter in any league", "Helen M Ward", 9¼x2½ slip. On verso is a handwritten note to Hilde and Anne, but the signature has been cut off. The inscription is to legendary chanteuse Hildegarde (1906-2005). "Anne" was probably her longtime manager Anna Sosenko. Arch WARD (1897-1955), sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, was also an important sports innovator. In 1923, Ward organized the first Golden Gloves tournament for young amateur boxers. Ten years later, Ward originated the idea of Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, the first of which was held in Chicago in 1933 during the Chicago World's Fair. The Chicago Tribune was in charge of distributing and counting the ballots. Ward's next big contributions were to football. In 1934, he organized the College All-Star Game, in which a team of graduating seniors played the defending National Football League champions for charity. The series continued, playing in Chicago's Soldier Field, until the NFL's total dominance of the event brought it to an end in 1976. Ward wasn't finished with football. He was a principal organizer of the All-American Football League, which challenged the NFL in 1946 and triggered a salary war. The AAFL folded three years later, but three of its franchises, the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts, survived as teams in the NFL. While Helen M. Ward may be Arch Ward's wife, there is no information available to confirm this assumption. Slightly soiled. Handwriting on verso shows through lightly. Otherwise, fine condition.