PORTLAND – Documents that the Official Historian of Major League Baseball declared “the Magna Carta of America’s national pastime” will be on exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland beginning Friday, July 1, through October 9, 2016. The exhibit will be the first public display of these nineteenth century papers, which only recently came to light at an auction in California.

The hand-written documents were drafted by Daniel “Doc” Adams and presented at an unprecedented special meeting of all New York area baseball clubs in 1857. The documents, entitled “Laws of Base Ball,” conclusively set the game’s rules, among which included establishing ninety-foot base paths, assigning nine players to a side, and fixing the duration of the game at nine innings.

Baseball fans will also want to mark their calendars for Tuesday, August 2, as OHS will host John Thorn, Official Historian of Major League Baseball, for a lecture on the history of America’s favorite game. The lecture begins at 7pm at the First Congregational Church. Tickets are $25 and are available online at johnthorn.brownpapertickets.com.

The Oregon Historical Society’s museum is open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum and exhibit will also be open on Independence Day, Monday, July 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $11, and discounts are available for students, seniors, and youth.

– Release from the Oregon Historical Society