average spatial: 14 in x 21 in; 35.56 cm x 53.34 cm
Object Name:
shorts, basketball
Used:
United States: New Hampshire, Hanover
Date made:
1930s
Description (Brief):
Green cotton basketball shorts with a white stripe down the side and padding on the hips. According to the donor, these shorts were originally used by the Dartmouth College basketball team in the early 1930s but were turned over to the Hanover High School basketball team of Hanover, New Hampshire in the mid-1930s. The donor wore these at Hanover High until he left for Exeter in 1941 and continued to wear then from 1958-1985 while playing basketball at the Pentagon Officers Athletic Center. Wilcomb Washburn was a curator of Political History at the National Museum of American History beginning in 1958. Later, he became chair of the Department of American Studies and served as a director for the Smithsonian's American Studies Program from 1968-1997.