This collection was donated in 1996 by Dr. Gerard S. Petrone, a San Diego dermatologist and dedicated baseball fan. He authored the book When Baseball Was Young, which is included in the collection as well as several other baseball history books. The collection is primarily composed of illustrations and articles extracted from microfilm reproductions of newspapers and magazines from the years 1865-1917. Much of the content was used as source material for Dr. Petrone’s book.

3 boxes, 3 linear ft.

San Diego Public Library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Permission to copy or publish any portion of San Diego Public Library's collection must be given by the San Diego Public Library.

Collection is open for research.