LOUIS S. NIXDORFF 1928 OLYMPIC GAMES COLLECTION, 1926-1978, #443

Introduction

The Louis S. Nixdorff 1928 Olympic Games Collection was donated to the National Museum of American History in January 1992, by Lou and Anne Byrd Nixdorff. The collection, housed in the Archives Center, consists of a diary kept by Lou Nixdorff on his trip to the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam; a photograph album containing photo prints that he took on his trip (many of which correspond to his diary entries); and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings cut out and pasted by Helen N. Owens, Nixdorff's youngest sister, who was thirteen at the time. An Olympic blazer patch and two lacrosse numbers, presumably worn by Nixdorff during the Olympic games, have been transferred to the Cultural History Division, Sport, Leisure and Popular Culture Collections in this Museum. The collection occupies one cubic foot of shelf space.

I wish to thank my parents-in-law, Lou and Anne Byrd Nixdorff, for donating this collection to the Archives Center. Lou Nixdorff's own modesty prevented an earlier donation. Fortunately, he changed his mind, and the Smithsonian Institution and the public are the beneficiaries.

I would like also to express my thanks and gratitude to my faithful volunteer, Grace Angle, who helped process this collection, including the transcription of the diary. Grace lived in Baltimore for portions of her life and is a contemporary of the Nixdorffs. She discovered that her brother had played with the sons of Dr. Van Orman, the Johns Hopkins University Sports Director. Her concentrated efforts have made this publication possible. Go to Biography

TOP