The TRIPLE FIGHT Museum
A Few Notable Acquisitions of 2024
TFM is a digital museum currently under construction. Please contact us if you are interested in future membership, making a donation, sponsoring the museum, or hosting a digital or in-person presentation about the museum and its collection.
We are pleased to have this opportunity to acquaint you with TFM | TRIPLE FIGHT Museum through some of our acquisitions in 2024. Our aim as a cultural and educational entity is to highlight the interconnectedness of human beings through FIGHTS.
We collect an array of items, mostly ephemera, and use our digital platform to share them with global audiences. In 2024, TFM acquired items that enriched our understanding of the FIGHTS that comprise THE TRIPLE FIGHT: F1-FIGHTS in Rings, F2-FIGHTS among Nations, and F3-FIGHTS for Equality and Justice. Below are a few of the items that delighted us in 2024. We hope you find them delightful as well.
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THE LAST ROUND
A black and white illustration by Charles Dana Gibson, published in LIFE, 1905.
FOUNDER’S NOTES: Above is a timeless but aged illustration by Charles Dana Gibson that appeared as a centerfold in a 1905 edition of LIFE, a once-popular and widely circulated American monthly magazine. The illustration reflects the beauty and joy of something we enjoy doing at TFM: celebrating the power of sports to bring individuals of diverse backgrounds together to contend, triumph, and bond. It also serves as a reminder that from 1890 through 1929, no professional sport, other than Boxing, steadily brought Black and White athletes and audiences together under the best and worst of circumstances.
The illustration depicts two well-dressed men, one White and the other Black, fully animated as they retell a key moment in a battle they fought long ago. The pair are speaking to an unseen audience, but the composition is drawn such that the viewer is part of the audience. We can assume the gentleman seated between the pair is in some way related to their fight. Perhaps he is the fight promoter or the promoter of the event. We may never know, but his upward gaze suggests he has heard it all before. Time has left its mark on the two former rivals, who are no longer in their prime. They are forever bonded by their moment together in the ring. The title of the illustration, THE LAST ROUND, suggests the bell of life will soon sound, bringing an end to their storytelling.
At TFM, we take great interest in illustrators who produced works relevant to The TRIPLE FIGHT, including works featuring fights and fighters as well as ideas and ideals that helped shape America and the world from 1890 through 1929. THE LAST ROUND is TFM’s first acquisition of ephemera containing work by Charles Dana Gibson. From the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia, we learned that C. D. Gibson (1867–1944) was a prominent American illustrator whose black and white ink illustrations were widely published in prominent American magazines such as LIFE, Harper’s Weekly, and Collier’s. Gibson’s longest business affiliation was with LIFE, where he began contributing to the magazine in 1886. His work appeared regularly in LIFE for more than three decades. In 1918, following the death of the magazine’s founder, John Ames Mitchell, Gibson became the editor and later the owner of LIFE. Gibson is best known for creating the “Gibson Girl,” an iconic representation of the idealized White American woman at the turn of the 20th century. The efforts of women to attain equality and justice are a core focus of the third FIGHT in The TRIPLE FIGHT, and the “Gibson Girl” has since become a visual reference in our exploration of FIGHTS of women. Below is a new and related acquisition: an official first-day-of-issue envelope published by the United States Postal Service with the “Gibson Girl” stamp.
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A SAILOR’S PORTRAIT
The sailor, ship, location, and the date are unknown.
FOUNDER’S NOTES: We study FIGHTS and FIGHTERS and regularly acquire photo images of U.S. service members from 1890 through 1929. We collect these images as an act of patriotism and to create a digital record of service members for posterity. The image shown above appears on a Real Photo Post Card (RPPC). When we first saw the unidentified Petty Officer Second Class (PO2) seated calmly between the big guns of an American warship, we knew it belonged in the TFM Collection of Navy portraits. It is a striking composition that happens to reflect our respect for the men and women, past and present, who go into harm’s way to serve and protect our country. No matter how big the guns, how mighty the ship, or how daring the expedition, the histories we have today would not exist were it not for the crews that manned, supplied, maintained, and fought on America’s vessels. TFM is committed to telling long-forgotten stories and displaying often faded and worn photos of American service members – posing and in action. They are the ones who helped determine the outcomes of events that formed our nation’s history. In many cases, they are the heroes of our stories. In other cases, they reveal where and how we, as a people, have fallen short. Either way, they and their stories MATTER, and we proudly display their images throughout this website.
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July 4th 1919 Boxing Aboard U.S.S. Huron
Somewhere in the Atlantic, bound for the U.S.A., on July 4, 1919.
FOUNDER’S NOTES: The image shown above appears on a postcard that clearly belongs in the TFM Collection. It is a remarkable scene of a ship deck filled with U.S. servicemen watching an intense boxing match in a makeshift ring. Take a close look at the crowd. It was fully integrated at a time when America’s fighting forces were largely segregated. The shared excitement of the boxing match created a wonderful moment revealing a slice of America unified, diverse, and inclusive. The larger reality was quite different. The troops pictured above were returning to an America that was fractured along racial lines and would experience a decade in which racialized groups such as the KKK would infiltrate and transform many sectors of American life.
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A “Championship” Bout Aboard The U.S.S. Mercury
The ship’s location and the date are unknown.
FOUNDER’S NOTES: In 2024, TFM acquired several postcards showing U.S. soldiers returning home at the end of World War 1 on various ships operated by the U.S. Navy. Above is one of those postcards. It depicts a large crowd of American soldiers watching two men boxing in a ring. We learn from the handwritten note (see below) on the back of the clipped postcard that the ship is the U.S.S. Mercury. The author of the note also indicates the bout was for the “Championship of the African Army.” Since America did not engage African military units during The Great War, we can conclude the two boxers, who happen to be wearing American combat fatigues, are African Americans. The crowd of spectators appears to be all White, which raises questions as to the nature of the bout. Are the Black boxers there as contenders for an official boxing title, or are they the entertainment? The answer remains a mystery for the present. TFM welcomes input from knowledgeable sources and is committed to documenting as many official fights as possible that were held on homeward-bound conveys of 1918 and 1919. A postcard view of the USS Mercury appears below.
USS Mercury
The handwritten note appearing on the message side of the above postcard reads:
Championship of the African Army USS Mercury
Below is another RPPC added to the TFM Collection in 2025. It offers a view of the USS Mercury. Currently, TFM does not have any information regarding the ship’s location or the date of the photograph shown above.
Here are a few more items that were added to the TFM Collection in 2024. All of the items added are either original to the years of The TRIPLE FIGHT or provide analysis and insights into the forty-year period spanning from 1890 through 1929.
F1 | Fights in Rings (Boxers and Boxing)
Colored Title Bouts
Sam McVey, a native of Oxnard, California, was one of five men crowned World’s “Colored” Heavyweight Champion during the 1900s. TFM acquired two articles heralding his fistic successes.
Rare Boxing Cards
Early in the 20th century, some boxers drew the Color Line, meaning they would not fight Black challengers. Jewey Smith, of the UK, was not among them. TFM is pleased to have his card.
Boxing and the GWF
TFM acquired the above photograph, which shows sailors of the Great White Fleet (GWF) in a ring with former world heavyweight Jim Jeffries (wearing a bowler hat) during Fleet Week 1908 in Los Angeles, California.
F2 | Fights Among Nations (Military and Wars)
America and The Great War (WW1)
F3 | Fights for Equality and Justice
Inequality in Mental Health
Cinema and The TRIPLE FIGHT
Race Riots Across America
Other | Special Collections
Portraits of African Americans
In 2024, TFM added several portraits of Black American couples to its collection. These images enhance our appreciation for some of the people who sought equality and justice from 1890 through 1929.
Sheet Music: Songs of a People
The heart of a people is often expressed through music and song. In 2024, TFM added the item shown above and one other to its collection of WW1-era sheet music. It is sobering to see some of America’s worst inclinations that defined its past resurface.