I hadn’t put the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) in Middleburg, Virginia high on my list of places to see–though I’d known of its existence for a while. I assumed that being in the middle of Virginia horse country, it was centered on English-style equestrian sports.
What a mistake!
I finally visited in mid-October, and to my surprise, it wasn’t only a tribute to equestrian life or Virginia horse country. The NSLM was much more, and after a tour by the Curator Colleen Yarger, I became quite enamored with the place.
Yes, the NSLM has a very strong equestrian art and literature collection–which probably comprises some 50% of the holdings, but it’s really a showcase of our unique American sporting traditions and life.
And rightfully so.
Sure, much of our country’s sporting culture comes from Europe, but America has put its own stamp on Continental field and water sports, advanced by the likes of conservationist Izaak Walton, advocate Theodore Roosevelt, painter Ogden Pleissner, and writer Ernest Hemingway.
Indeed, I would argue that America has one of the finest–if not the finest–traditions of equestrian, hunting, and angling of any country in the world, highlighted by the incredible abundance of national resources and unparalleled access to them.
USA! USA! OK, let me get off my soapbox and back to the NSLM…
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