Call Number:

38

Repository:

Historical Society of Frankford

Extent:

2.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1923-1931 (inclusive)

Creator:

Historical Society of Frankford.

Abstract:

The Frankford Yellow Jackets were an early twentieth-century football club located in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team was the first professional football team to play in Philadelphia, joining the National Football League (NFL) in 1924 and winning the NFL championship in 1926. The Yellow Jackets ceased operations in late 1931, and its franchise was returned to the NFL. In 1933, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to Bert Bell and Lud Wray, who formed a new team named the Philadelphia Eagles.The Historical Society of Frankford Frankford Yellow Jackets collection, 1923-1931, consists of photographs, negatives, programs and other ephemera relating to the Frankford Yellow Jackets.

The Frankford Yellow Jackets were an early twentieth-century football club located in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team was the first professional football team to play in Philadelphia, joining the National Football League (NFL) in 1924. The Yellow Jackets ceased operations in late 1931, and its franchise was returned to the NFL. In 1933, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to Bert Bell and Lud Wray, who formed a new team named the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Frankford Yellow Jackets were initially a sandlot football club organized in 1899 by the Frankford Athletic Association. In the early 1920s, the team began to garner attention as one of the best independent football teams in the country.

Although still an independent team, the Frankford Yellow Jackets faced their first National Football League opponent, the Rochester Jefferson, in a scrimmage in 1922. The Yellow Jackets won, 20-0, and went on to play several other NFL teams in scrimmages in 1922 and 1923. In 1924, the Frankford Athletic Association was granted an NFL franchise for the Frankford Yellow Jackets and the team officially joined the National Football League.

The Frankford Yellow Jackets were one of the most successful NFL teams in the 1920s, completing their first season in 1924 with an 11-2-1 NFL record. Between 1924 and 1931, the Yellow Jackets scheduled more games than any other team in the NFL. A majority of the team's games were played back-to-back, with home games in Philadelphia on Saturdays and road games on Sundays. The team played home games at Frankford Stadium, built on a converted horse track in 1923 at Frankford Avenue and Devereaux streets. In 1926, the Frankford Yellow Jackets were the NFL champions, the first time a Philadelphia team had won a national football championship. That same season, the team set an NFL record with fourteen wins in a season, a record which would not be broken until sixty years later.

The team was supported by a band, cheerleaders, and a mascot, along with its own fight song. The Frankford Yellow Jackets were also a part of the Frankford community. The players lived in boarding houses in Frankford, often passing time playing football with the kids in the neighborhood streets. The team also donated any income generated beyond the player's salaries and team expenses to local charities such as Frankford Hospital.

In 1930s, the Great Depression impacted the Yellow Jacket's ability to fund the team, including attracting strong players. In 1929 and again in 1931, the stadium caught fire. Due to the financial strain, the team was unable to fund repairs and began its 1931 season as a traveling team with no home stadium. The team was unable to finish the season, suspending operations in November of 1931.

After the Yellow Jackets ceased operations, the Frankford Athletic Association was unable to find a buyer for the team and returned the franchise to the NFL. The NFL spent over a year searching for a new ownership group to operate a team in Philadelphia. In July of 1933, the NFL granted an expansion franchise and awarded the assets of the Yellow Jackets to Lud Wray, a former Yellow Jackets player, and Bert Bell, head football coach at Temple University. Bell and Wray took on the debt of the Yellow Jackets, but formed a new team, naming it the Philadelphia Eagles. After the debt was paid off, the team was no longer tied to the Frankford Yellow Jackets, but retained its powder blue and yellow colors for its uniforms for several seasons.

Bibliography:

Tim Selway. "Frankford Yellow Jackets: 1926 NFL Champions." In Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Center for the Book. 2008. Accessed December 15, 2015. http://pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/FrankfordYellowJackets.html.

This collection consists of photographs, negatives, programs, and other ephemera relating to the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the professional football team that was the predecessor to the Philadelphia Eagles. Also included are photocopies of materials relating to the Yellow Jackets mounted on foam core. There are home game programs, 1923-1931. Photographs include team photos and depictions of practices and games. The negatives are of practices and action shots of various games in which the Yellow Jackets played. The negatives are labeled in groups with game dates and participating teams. There are also two scrapbooks, circa 1925-1927, with newspaper clippings about the Yellow Jackets.

The collection has various Yellow Jacket artifacts associated with it that were not included as part of this survey.