Inside National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum - Cooperstown, New York
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located in Cooperstown, New York, and operated by private interests. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, displays baseball-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport. The Hall's motto is Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations.
The word Cooperstown is often used as shorthand (or a metonym) for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, similarly to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Carlton Clark, the owner of a local hotel. Clark had sought to bring tourists to a city hurt by the Great Depression, which reduced the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which devastated the local hops industry. A new building was constructed, and the Hall of Fame was dedicated on June 12, 1939. (Clark's granddaughter, Jane Forbes Clark, is the current chairman of the Board of Directors.)