John Henry Roberson was known to baseball fans as "Rube
Robinson." Roberson was born August 16, 1889 in Floyd, White County,
Arkansas. He was labeled "Rube Robinson" by the press. According to
the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, "His baseball career as a pitcher
covered 22 years. He signed his first professional contract in 1908 and reached
the major leagues with Pittsburgh in 1911. He won 40 games for the Pirates and
Cardinals in 1912-15. He joined the New York Yankees for one year and later
pitched for Little Rock in 1916-17 and 1919-27, winning 26 games in 1920 and
1922. He spent part of 1923 on loan to New Orleans and was with the Arkansas
Travelers part of 1928. He retired after the 1929 season with Atlanta. He had a
career record of 304-222."
Roberson married Dorothy Lee Latture on
December 28, 1912. She worked for the School Instruction Association which
later became the Parent Teacher Association. Dorothy and John Henry had one son
Fred O. Roberson. Fred and his wife Marie had two children, Gloria and Fred O.,
Jr.
After baseball, J.H. Roberson worked for
Pulaski County and the Arkansas State Highway Department, retiring in 1959.
Roberson often tutored children from the Riverside Community House on playing
baseball, and in 1962 he was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame. J.H.
Roberson died in July 1965, in Little Rock, Arkansas.
This collection contains four scrapbooks and
other material related to John Henry "Rube Robinson" Roberson's
baseball career, and two scrapbooks related to Dorothy (Mrs. John Henry)
Roberson's career with the Parent Teacher Association and her work as an
assistant probation officer.
·
Scrapbook
I, John Henry Roberson, 1911-1991
·
Call
for military service, 1917
·
J.H.
Roberson business cards, 1925 and undated
·
Income
tax return, 1920-1925
·
Player
contracts, 1918 and 1925
·
Correspondence
of J.H. Roberson, 1922-1965
·
Scrapbook
II, John Henry Roberson, undated
·
Missouri
Pacific Station (the Railroad World Series), 1929 and undated
·
Scrapbook
III, John Henry Roberson's best baseball years, 1917-1929
·
Newsclippings,
1954-1958
·
Arkansas
State Highway Department, 1953-1959
·
Speech
of Arkansas Hall of Fame banquet, 1962
·
Arkansas
Hall of Fame program, John Henry Roberson, 1962 January 18
·
Arkansas
Hall of Fame program, 1964 January 23
·
Life
insurance, 1929
·
Scrapbook
IV, John Henry Roberson, 1928-1966
·
Scrapbook
V, Dorothy Latture Roberson newspaper clippings of the family, 1908-1962
·
Postcard,
1967
·
Parent
Teacher Association newsclippings, undated
·
Scrapbook
VI, Dorothy Latture Roberson, Pulaski County Assistant Probation Officer, and
photographs, 1950-1967
