Digitizing American Lawn Tennis Project
Learn about the partnership between the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Google Arts & Culture to digitize the entire magazine run of this important historical reference.
Bound volumes of American Lawn Tennis magazine International Tennis Hall of Fame
A tennis historian's delight
American Lawn Tennis
, a magazine relied on by tennis historians, has long been part of the ITHF's library collection. Built up over time by multiple generous donors since the ITHF's founding in 1954, the library has a complete run (1907-1951) of the publication.
Loose issues of American Lawn Tennis magazine International Tennis Hall of Fame
Why digitize American Lawn Tennis?
This magazine reported on the sport of tennis in relation to the game itself and greater national and world events and is a staple resource for researchers. The ITHF selected this treasure to digitize as part of a larger digitization initiative the organization began in 2017.
Archival boxes housing issues of American Lawn Tennis magazine International Tennis Hall of Fame
From bound volume to digitized asset
Before we could start scanning, we needed to inventory and confirm we had every issue in unbound format. This totaled 665 individual issues of the magazine. Every issue was rehoused in archival folders and boxes to museum standards.
Scanning American Lawn Tennis magazine (2022) by Mark Higgins (International Tennis Hall of Fame Staff) International Tennis Hall of Fame
The scanning begins
Armed with a DT Atom Scanning System lent by Google, the ITHF team began the process of scanning each issue, page-by-page, cover-to-cover.
Scanning American Lawn Tennis magazine, turning the pages International Tennis Hall of Fame
30,000 pages and counting
The scanning process took about seven months, from June to December 2022. ITHF staff then prepared the related metadata for each scanned asset. In all, there are over 31,260 individual assets, or magazine pages, to share with the world.
"The National Lawn-Tennis Tournament at Newport" (1893) by Charles Howard Johnson and Harper's Bazar International Tennis Hall of Fame
Many fascinating tales of tennis history in the pages
The International Tennis Hall of Fame has prepared a number of digital stories to accompany this digitization project that complement some of the gems that graced the pages of American Lawn Tennis. Here are some highlights of a just a few.
Don Budge International Tennis Hall of Fame
1. America’s Don Budge and the First Grand Slam in Tennis
In 1938, John Donald “Don” Budge became the first player in history to accomplish what had previously been considered unattainable: he won the singles championships at Australia, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and the United States, completing the first ever Grand Slam.
Tennis Balls (2016) by International Tennis Hall of Fame staff International Tennis Hall of Fame
2. What's the Fuzz?
Tennis balls are a critical element of the sport and have been for centuries. Though they are all round, composed of similar materials, and share the same dimensions, they have evolved over time. Their packaging has an even more colorful history.
Tennis from the Paris Olympics (pulled from American Lawn Tennis Magazine) (1924-08-01) by Nicole Markham for the International Tennis Hall of Fame International Tennis Hall of Fame
3. Tennis & the Olympics
Featured in the first modern Olympics (1896), tennis' early global popularity was undeniable. Internal conflicts, however, led to its Olympic hiatus after the 1924 Paris Games.
Suzanne Lenglen (left) and Helen Wills (right), Cannes, France (1926) by unidentified International Tennis Hall of Fame
4. The Tennis Match of the Century
On February 16, 1926, the first and only singles match between the two top women's players in the world, Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills, took place in the final of the Carlton Club tournament in Cannes on the French Riviera before a sold-out audience.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame would like to thank the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
for providing a few scans of pages that were missing from various issues in our collection.
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.
