Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection, 1904-1966: Finding Aid
Published in September 2018
Summary Information
- Publisher: United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives.
- Publisher Address:
589 McNair Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5029, USA
Phone: 410-293-6917
https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/index.php - Call number: MS 467
- Location: Special Collections & Archives Department - Manuscripts
- Title: Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection
- Dates: 1904-1966
- Size: 2.04 linear feet
- Container Summary: 1 manuscript box, 1 half-manuscript box, 1 flat box
- Creator: Hollandersky, Abraham, 1888-
- Language(s) of material: English
- Abstract: Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky was an American professional boxer, paper boy, and noted U.S. Navy booster. The Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection spans from 1904 to 1966. The collection consists primarily of autographed black-and-white portraits of early to mid-twentieth century U.S. Navy admirals and other officers collected by, and inscribed to, Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky.
Biography of Abraham Hollandersky
Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky was an American professional boxer, paper boy, and noted U.S. Navy booster. Hollandersky, son of Charles Hollandersky, was born into a Russian-Jewish family in the town of Berzniki (present day Poland) in 1888. Emigrating from Russia to New York City, Hollandersky ultimately settled in New London, Connecticut, working as a newsboy and taking up the sport of boxing. Following a meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt aboard the presidential yacht Mayflower while selling newspapers in 1906, Hollandersky was granted the honorific of "Newsboy of the Navy," leading to a lifelong relationship with the U.S. Navy in which he worked as a bumboatsman, sailed aboard several Navy cruises, performed boxing exhibitions, collected Navy autographs, and served as a recruiting booster. While the peak of Hollandersky's professional boxing career was achieved in May 1913 when he won the Panamanian Heavyweight Championship from Jack Ortega, Hollandersky would continue to box professionally until 1925, tallying over 1,100 bouts by his own account. Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky died in November 1966 in San Diego, California.
Description of Contents
The Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection, comprising 2.04 linear feet of material, spans from 1904 to 1966. The collection consists primarily of autographed black-and-white portraits of early to mid-twentieth century U.S. Navy admirals and other officers collected by, and inscribed to, Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky.
Included among the photographs are occasional cover letters and related ephemera.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject into a single series with no subdivisions. The overwhelming majority of the collection's portraits depict U.S. Navy officers, especially admirals, either alone or posing with Hollandersky. Dispersed throughout are occasional portraits of U.S. Army and Marine Corps officers, as well as British Navy and merchant marine officers, notably the captains of S.S. America and N.S. Savannah. Filed at the end of the collection are group portraits, photographs of U.S. Navy events, and photographs of U.S. Navy vessels. Several photographs are also accompanied by cover letters, clippings, and other ephemera.
A number of the portraits and enclosures are inscribed to George R. Sanders, as opposed to Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky.
Arrangement
The Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection arranged alphabetically by subject, with group portraits and ship photographs filed at the end.
Access and Use
Access
Access is unrestricted.
Copyright and Permission
The Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection is the physical property of Nimitz Library. Copyright belongs to the authors or creators of the works, or their legal representatives. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure written permission to publish, reprint, or reproduce material from Special Collections & Archives. The researcher assumes responsibility for infringement of copyright or literary or publication rights. Please contact the Head, Special Collections & Archives for permission to publish and for further information.
Acquisition and Appraisal
Provenance and Acquisition
Purchased from Heritage Book Shop, Inc. in March 1996. Accession No. 96-16.
Related Materials
Related Archival Material
There are no other known collections of papers of Abraham Hollandersky.
Materials Cataloged Separately
No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.
Publications Citing These Papers
A selection of the photographs in this collection was published in Hollandersky's autobiography The Life Story of Abe the Newsboy: Hero of a Thousand Fights.
Processing and Other Information
All clippings and enclosures were segregated from their respective photographs at the time of processing. Any identifications of photographic subjects made during collection processing and appearing on the reverse of photographs are indicated by square brackets.
Preferred Citation
Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection, MS 467
Special Collections & Archives Department
Nimitz Library
United States Naval Academy
Selected Bibliography
The following sources were consulted during preparation of the biographical note:
Hollandersky, Abraham. The Life Story of Abe the Newsboy: Hero of a Thousand Fights. New York: Abe the Newsboy Publishing, 1930.
New York Times. "'Abe the Newsboy' a Champion." May 30, 1913.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by David D'Onofrio in September 2018. Finding aid written by David D'Onofrio in September 2018.
Subject Headings
Name and Subject Terms
- Admirals -- United States
- Boxing
- Hollandersky, Abraham, 1888-
- United States. Navy -- Officers -- Pictorial works
Genre Terms
- Manuscripts
- Photographs
Contents List
Portraits - B, 1949-1964, undated
Includes Oscar C. Badger, David W. Bagley, Wilder D. Baker, Daniel E. Barbey, Frederic A. Bardshar, Harry H. Barton, Max Baum, Edward L. Beach, Donald B. Beary, Edward William Behm, Herbert Chauncey Behner Jr., William S. Benson, Frederick C. Billard, John Blackburn, P. Boland, Jack W. Boller, Walter F. Boone, Francis D. Boyle, John Hoag Boyum, Harry L. Brinser, Robert P. Briscoe, Arthur LeRoy Bristol, Charles R. "Cat" Brown, H. C. Bruton, Samuel Wood Bryant, Phil Bucklew, William S. Busik, and Henry Varnum Butler.
Portraits - C, 1924-1964, undated
Includes William Lowndes Calhoun, D. J. Callaghan, H. J. Campbell, Robert B. Carney, Florian Wendell Cassady, Cecil T. Caufield, Warren G. Child, E. A. Christofferson Jr., Jeane R. Clark, Robert William Clark, Thurston Booth Clark, Wat T. Cluverius Jr., William Carey Cole, F. C. Collins, John Barr Colwell, Oliver Doty Compton, Richard L. Conolly, Lawrence Blanchard Cook, Robert E. Coontz, Thomas H. Copeman, Ernest Sylvester Cornwall Jr., William G. Coulter, John Cox, John Starr Coye, Charles Washburn Crosse, William R. Crutcher, Lawrence D. Cummings, John Joseph Curley Jr., Walter Louis Curtis Jr., Prentice J. Custer, and Warren F. Cuthriell.
Portraits - D, 1946-1960, undated
Includes Thomas E. Darby, John F. Davidson, Claude Noel DeBuhr, J. R. Defrees Gaston De Groote (captain of N.S. Savannah), Walter Stanley DeLany, Max Burke DeMott, Louis R. de Steigeur, William E. Donnelly Jr., Robert Edson "Dusty" Dornin, John Drew, Derwood D. Duncan, Herbert O. Dunn, and George D. Dyer.
Portraits - G, 1930-1946, undated
Includes Sinclair Gannon, Jesse B. Gay, Robert Lee Ghormley, William J. Giles, William A Glassford, James H. Glennon, John T. Godfrey, Alexander Scott Goodfellow Jr., Orville R. Goss, Lawrence C. Grannis, Charles W. Gray, O. B. Gray, Ernest L. Gunther, and Rex Gygax.
Portraits - H, 1946-1963, undated
Includes R. A. Haggard, William F. Halsey, Grover Budd Hurtley Hall, Dale Harris, Leroy E. Harris, Charles S. Hart, Charles Clifford Hartman, R. M. Hayes, Frank B. Herold, James B. Hildreth, Andrew Hill, John C. Hilliard, Alfred Walton Hinds, William B. Hirst Jr., Raymond C. Hohenstein, Ralston Smith Holmes, James L. Holloway, Herbert G. Hopwood, Charles F. Hughes, and Thomas Braxton Hurtt.
Portraits - M, 1929-1964, undated
Includes William J. Maddocks, Thomas P. Magruder, A. Majors, L. Malone, George R. Marvell, Daryl Orville Maxwell, John S. McCain Sr., Lynde D. McCormick, William F. McCullough, David L. McDonald, Earle T. McFarland, John W. McGhee, Francis X. McInerney, John R. McKee, Luke McNamee, Robert Menner, Edwin Swain Miller, H. L. Miller, Thornton Miller, William Adger Moffett, R. Moore, W. B. Morrow, Stanford E. Moses, and M. E. Murphy.
Portraits - R, 1952-1961, undated
Includes Arthur W. Radford, Lawson P. Ramage, DeWitt C. Ramsey, John W. Rankin, Oliver M. Read, DeWitt C. Redgrave, John R. Redman, Joseph Mason Reeves, John N. Renfro, Alfred C. Richmond, Henry E. Richter, William H. Robb, Francis R. Roberts, R. H. Robeson Jr., Rembrandt Cecil Robinson, Samuel Shelburne Robison, Hugh Rodman, Bernard F. Roeder, Edwin J. Roland, George A. Rosso, Richard Rosso, Forrest B. Royal, Frederick Joseph Ruder, Robert N. Ruleman, and James S. Russell.
Portraits - S, 1926-1964, undated
Includes Richard Yates Scott, Henry Thomas Settle, Alexander Sharp, Forrest Sherman, Arthur Siegel, Manley Hale Simons, William Sowden Sims, William Renwick Smedberg III, Allan E. Smith, Arthur St. Clair Smith, H. Langdon Smith, Charles A. Somer, Raymond A. Spruance, William Harrison Standley, Lemuel M. Stevens, Paul Cecil Stimson, Paul D. Stroop, Arthur D. Struble, Felix Budwell Stump, Stanley E. Sweeder, and John Sylvester.
Portraits - T, 1904-1966, undated
Includes Ray Tarbuck, William T. Tarrant, Joseph K. Taussig, Montgomery Meigs Taylor, William Edward Teufer, John S. Thach, Robert Alfred Theobald, George Carroll Thomas, Fred Hugh Thorne, Henry Ehrman Thornhill Jr., Wakeman B. Thorp, Charles Henry Tisdale Jr., Mahlon S. Tisdale, Elmer W. Tod, Harold Cecil Train, and Razzie W. Truitt.
Portraits - W, 1935-1964
Includes Robert W. Waldron, T. J. Walker, Paul Belyea Watson, Philip Van Horn Weems, Roger Welles, Waldemar Frederick August Wendt, Thomas R. Weschler, Robert Lee Wessel, Newton H. White Jr., Donald w. Whiting, George Whiting, Kenneth Whiting, Curtis D. Wilbur, Henry A. Wiley, Herbert V. Wiley, Charles Warren "Weary" Wilkins, E. W. Wilkinson, Arthur Lee Willard, George W. Willcox, Morton D. Willcutts, Francis Thomas Williamson, James D. Willson, B. D. Wood Jr., R. H. Wood, Mark W. Woods, Jerauld Wright, and Donal Wesley Wulzen.
Portraits - Groups and Events, 1928-1966, undated
Includes images of T. C. Aylward, Thomas Tingey Craven, Harley F. Cope, John Joseph Curley Jr., Max B. DeMott, George L. Dickson, F. I. Entwistle, Eugene G. Fairfax, Aubrey W. Fitch, E. R. Gardner, Felix Gygax, Schuyler F. Heim, Mark L. Hersey Jr., Henry Ellis Lackey, Kenmore M. McManes, Thornton Miller, P. B. Malone, W. L. Mann, G. H. Morrison, Fred H. Poteet, L. C. Quiggle, C. G. Richardson, Henry E. Richter, E. S. Root, George Schlemmer, William B. Schwartz, St. Clair Smith, Robert A. Theobald, and A. C. Thomas, as well as the officers of U.S.S. Mansfield (Destroyer: DD-728) and U.S.S. Idaho (Battleship: BB-42).
Ships, 1934-1960, undated
Includes U.S.S. Nautilus (Submarine (nuclear powered): SS-571), U.S.S. New Mexico (Battleship: BB-40) U.S.S. San Francisco, U.S.S. Sicily (Escort aircraft carrier: CVE-55), (Heavy cruiser: CA-38), U.S.S. Solace (Hospital ship: AH-2), and Trieste (Bathyscaphe).