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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.

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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.

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Arrangement

The Abraham Hollandersky Photograph Collection arranged alphabetically by subject, with group portraits and ship photographs filed at the end.

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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.

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Acquisition and Appraisal

Provenance and Acquisition

Purchased from Heritage Book Shop, Inc. in March 1996. Accession No. 96-16.

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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.

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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.

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Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

  • Admirals -- United States
  • Boxing
  • Hollandersky, Abraham, 1888-
  • United States. Navy -- Officers -- Pictorial works

Genre Terms

  • Manuscripts
  • Photographs
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Contents List

Box  1 Folder  1

Portraits - Abe the Newsboy, 1918-1946

Also includes photographs of boxing matches, boxing announcer Dan Tobey, and non-Navy associates of Abraham Hollandersky.

Box  1 Folder  2

Portraits - Abe the Newsboy (Enclosures), 1916, undated

Includes a ticket and a postal cachet.

Box  1 Folder  3

Portraits - A, 1919-1962, undated

Includes H. J. Abbott, C. A. Abele, Walden L. Ainsworth, George W. Alexander, John Morris Alford, George W. Anderson, Adolphus Andrews, Jackson D. Arnold, Murr Edward Arnold, and Henry Clayton Atwood Jr.

Box  3[OS] Folder  1

Portraits - A, 1961

Includes George W. Anderson.

Box  1 Folder  4

Portraits - A (Enclosures), 1962-1963

Material, including an autographed letter, regarding Admiral George W. Anderson.

Box  1 Folder  5

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  2

Portraits - B, 1923

Includes Frank Berrien (autographed photo mount only).

Box  1 Folder  6

Portraits - B (Enclosures), undated

Includes an autograph of Robert P. Briscoe and a press released and autographed letter from Daniel E. Barbey.

Box  1 Folder  7

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  3

Portraits - C, 1952

Includes Robert B. Carney

Box  1 Folder  8

Portraits - C (Enclosures), 1959-1962, undated

Includes an autograph from Robert B. Carney and a clipping and letter regarding Richard L. Conolly.

Box  1 Folder  9

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  4

Portraits - D, undated

Includes Freeland A. Daubin.

Box  1 Folder  10

Portraits - E, 1960-1961, undated

Includes Clarence Eugene Ekstrom, Charles S. Ely, Frederick I. Entwistle, Horace H. Epes Jr., and Robert B. Erly.

Box  1 Folder  11

Portraits - F, 1951-1958, undated

Includes Harry D. Felt, J. A. Ferguson, Maurice Ferrara, Thomas Fields, James Fife, Clarence L. Foushee, Charles W. Fox, Wilhelm L. Friedell, Thomas E. Franco, and William R. Furlong.

Box  1 Folder  12

Portraits - F (Enclosures), 1959-1961

Includes a clipping about and autograph letter from Harry D. Felt.

Box  1 Folder  13

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  5

Portraits - G, 1943, undated

Includes William A Glassford and Charles A. Gove.

Box  1 Folder  14

Portraits - G (Enclosures), 1958

Includes a letter from Mrs. John T. Godfrey.

Box  1 Folder  15

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.

Box  1 Folder  16

Portraits - H (Enclosures), 1959, undated

Includes an autograph letter from Herbert G. Hopwood and a press release about and autograph letter from James L. Holloway.

Box  1 Folder  17

Portraits - I, undated

Includes Noble Edward Irwin.

Box  1 Folder  18

Portraits - J, 1963, undated

Includes Albert E. Jarrell, Jack A. Jester, James Kenneth Jobe, Ralph C. Johnson, Roy Lee Johnson, James Cary Jones Jr., and Gerold P. Joyce.

Box  3[OS] Folder  6

Portraits - J, undated

Includes Alfred Wilkinson Johnson.

Box  1 Folder  19

Portraits - K, 1961-1963, undated

Includes Edward C. Kalbfus, Bruce Keener III, V. F. Kelly, Thomas C. Kinkaid, Thomas S. King Jr., Donald F. Kinney, Louis Joseph Kirn, Raymond Philip Kline, and George Koen.

Box  1 Folder  20

Portraits - L, 1963, undated

Includes George B. Landenberger, E. B. Larimer, Richard Henry Leigh, Robert H. Lemmon, Bill Leyden, Daniel A. Lewis, C. O. Little, and Ralph C. Lynch Jr.

Box  1 Folder  21

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  7

Portraits - M, 1937, undated

Includes Ridley McLean, Robert Menner, and George D. Murray.

Box  1 Folder  22

Portraits - M (Enclosures), 1963

Includes clippings about and autograph letters from Davild L. McDonald.

Box  1 Folder  23

Portraits - N, 1964

Includes William Nivison.

Box  1 Folder  24

Portraits - O, 1959-1960, undated

Includes Albert R. Olsen, John W. O'Neill, and Charles T. Owens.

Box  1 Folder  25

Portraits - P, 1929-1965, undated

Includes Paul M. Paul, George Tilford Pettengill, William K. Phillips, Bernard G. Platt, Robert M. Pond, Fred H. Poteet, Richard Rockwell Pratt, William V. Pratt, Charles F. Preston, Alfred M. Pride, and William B. Provost.

Box  3[OS] Folder  8

Portraits - P, undated

Includes Halsey Powell.

Box  1 Folder  26

Portraits - Q, undated

Includes Allen G. Quynn.

Box  1 Folder  27

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  9

Portraits - R, undated

Includes Thomas F. Regan.

Box  1 Folder  28

Portraits - R (Enclosures), 1950-1963, undated

Includes clippings regarding Arthur W. Radford and autograph letters from E. J. Roland and James S. Russell.

Box  1 Folder  29

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  10

Portraits - S, undated

Includes John H. Sides.

Box  1 Folder  30

Portraits - S (Enclosures), 1923-1935

Includes a telegram from William Sowden Sims and an autograph letter from William Harrison Standley.

Box  2 Folder  1

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.

Box  3[OS] Folder  11

Portraits - T, undated

Includes John H. Towers.

Box  2 Folder  2

Portraits - T (Enclosures), 1958-1959

Includes a clipping about and autograph letter from John S. Thach.

Box  2 Folder  3

Portraits - U, undated

Includes Nathaniel R. Usher.

Box  2 Folder  4

Portraits - V, 1963, undated

Includes Wilbur R. Van Auken, Stanley W. Vejtasa, Ray A. Volpi, and Francis A. L. Vossler.

Box  2 Folder  5

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.

Box  2 Folder  6

Portraits - W (Enclosures), undated

Includes an autograph from Jerauld Wright.

Box  2 Folder  7

Portraits - XYZ, 1926-1965, undated

Includes Harry E. Yarnell, Lawrence R. Yarnell, Howard A. Yeager, Henry Joseph Ziegemeier, and William Rice Zimmerman Jr.

Box  2 Folder  8

Portraits - Illegible and Unidentified, 1938-1962, undated

Includes images of British Navy officers and merchant mariners, such as the captain of S.S. America.

Box  2 Folder  9

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).

Box  3[OS] Folder  12

Portraits - Groups and Events, 1945, undated

Includes images of Jehu V. Chase, Wat T. Cluverius, John Joseph Curley Jr., William S. Farber, Edward W. Hanson, Harry B. Hird, R. A. Haggard, Earle W. Mills, Fred H. Poteet, and Earl E. Stone.

Box  2 Folder  10

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).

Box  3[OS] Folder  13

Ships, undated

Image of U.S.S. Sperry (Submarine tender: AS-12), signed by Submarine Squadron Three commanding officer Elliott Loughlin.

Box  2 Folder  11

Ships (Enclosures), 1960

Letter regarding the bathyscaphe Trieste, signed by S. S. Pearlman.

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