Joseph S. Branzell (1918-1997) was born in Georgetown on December 6, 1918, the son of Isaac and Agnes Branzell. He grew up on the 3200 block of P Street and attended Holy Trinity School. In 1931, he became a charter member of the Georgetown Branch of the Washington Boys Club. His relationship with the Boys Club and the passion for team sports that he developed there would remain throughout his life. He was a member of the Georgetown Boys Club championship 135-pound football team in 1935, the same year he graduated from Gordon Junior High School. Childhood friend Frank Cady also recalls his success as a first baseman on local sandlot softball teams. Joe joined the staff of the Boys Club in 1939.
Joe was also an all around athlete at Central High School, but left school to care for his beloved father who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. In 1958, upon being named “Mr. Washingtonian” by the Junior Chamber of Commerce for over two decades of work with the Boys Club, he noted that “When I was a kid I was always the leader of the bunch,” but because of his father’s illness and early death in 1941, “I never had the guidance or education that every kid ought to have.”
After serving in the Navy during WWII, Joe returned to the Georgetown Boys Club to begin a lifetime of providing leadership and guidance. Joe coached and managed many Boys Club teams, but the most successful were the high school all-star teams that were created in 1946 under the initial sponsorship of Marx Jewelers. The teams consistently outshone other amateur leagues in the Mid-Atlantic region, taking the American All-Star Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) championship in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1949. Joe continued to develop this team, choosing the best high school baseball players in the metropolitan region for an arduous summer season of practice and traveling competition. From 1950 to 1954, the team was known as the Washington Boys Club Varsity Baseball Team. In 1955, it reached its most successful incarnation under the sponsorship of E.K. Morris, owner of the Federal Storage company. The Federal Storage team dominated the local Clark C. Griffith Memorial League and won four AAABA championships between 1955 and 1962, when it lost the sponsorship of Federal Storage and disbanded.
Joe served as Director of the new Jelleff Boys Club on S Street in Georgetown from 1953 to 1961, when he was hired as a metropolitan area Scout for the expansion Washington Senators,
which later became the Texas Rangers. He was a local scout for the Rangers until his death. Joe also served as Director of Athletics and Football and Basketball Coach at Maret School, 1964-1966, and as Chief Personnel Scout and Recruiter for the University of Maryland football team, 1967-1968. Although no longer an employee of the Boys Club, Joe continued to coach and mentor the young men on his Boys Clubs teams.
Some of the young men who played on the Federal Storage teams went on to careers in professional sports, but Joe Branzell taught the boys on all of his teams more than just the rudiments of skill and strategy. Several members of the Federal Storage Alumni Association recall a tough but caring counselor who taught boys skills they would need in life, such as self- discipline, self-respect, and self-confidence. Tom Brown, former all-pro defensive back for the Green Bay Packers, remembers a “great teacher of young men” who taught “the fundamentals in baseball and life.” On October 9, 1997, Brown, along with Ray Miller, then pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles and former Federal Storage player, and Joe Klein, former Washington Senator and then General Manager for the Detroit Tigers, presented a tribute to Joe as a “father figure to thousands of young men in our region” as part of the ceremonial first pitch of the final American League playoff game.
Bob Glaser, former Brooklyn/L.A. Dodger and Federal Storage team member, compares Joe, a devout Catholic, to the legendary Father Flanagan of Boys Town, a strong leader who demanded respect, but earned it through his encouragement and support. After Joe’s death on September 28, 1997, his priest, Rev. Msgr. John F. Hogan of Holy Trinity Parish, eulogized Joe for recognizing that “sports were not mere games, but ways of expressing total team dedication, which could be translated into winning life styles.”
Scope and Content: The Joseph S. Branzell Papers, 1930s-1998, are arranged in three series. Oversized materials are described at the end.
SERIES I: SCRAPBOOKS consist of Joseph Branzell’s personal memorabilia and newspaper articles about Washington Bys Club sporting events and teams.
SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS is arranged in two sub-series. For photographs for which a negative exists, a notation has been made on the reverse of the photo. Negatives are stored separately in folder order. See reference staff to view negatives for which prints are available.
Sub-series A: Joe Branzell Photographs consists of photographs of Joe Branzell, family, friends, a Holy Trinity School reunion, and his career as a major league baseball scout, 1940s-1990s.
Sub-series B: Youth Sports Photographs consists of photographs documenting youth activities in Washington. primarily related to the local Boys Clubs. The images of sports teams include both action shots and group portraits. In addition to team sports, the collection documents other activities of the Boys Clubs, including the marching band, majorettes, Christmas parties, dances,
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marbles tournaments, and parades. A small portion of the collection is devoted to youth activities Joe directed through his affiliations with the Big Brothers program and Holy Trinity and Maret Schools. Most of the photographs are undated and the people in the photographs are not specifically identified. When possible, dates are provided in folder descriptions. Most of the photographs of Boys Club events date from the 1940s-1960s, but most of them are not dated. Photographs are arranged alphabetically by type of sport; other activities follow, arranged alphabetically by subject. Teams are arranged within a particular sport alphabetically by the first letter of the team name shown on uniforms. The series includes some photographs of non-Washington Boys Club teams and Washington Senators and other professional teams.
SERIES III: MOTION PICTURE FILM consists of 26 rolls of 16 mm film. They are dated from 1949 through 1961 and undated. The subject matter is mainly (25 reels) Boys Clubs of Washington football games, in which the teams are divided into weight groups listed in categories of 80 lb., 90 lb., 115 lb., 120 lb., and 140 lb. There is one reel of baseball footage.
Joe was also an all around athlete at Central High School, but left school to care for his beloved father who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. In 1958, upon being named “Mr. Washingtonian” by the Junior Chamber of Commerce for over two decades of work with the Boys Club, he noted that “When I was a kid I was always the leader of the bunch,” but because of his father’s illness and early death in 1941, “I never had the guidance or education that every kid ought to have.”
After serving in the Navy during WWII, Joe returned to the Georgetown Boys Club to begin a lifetime of providing leadership and guidance. Joe coached and managed many Boys Club teams, but the most successful were the high school all-star teams that were created in 1946 under the initial sponsorship of Marx Jewelers. The teams consistently outshone other amateur leagues in the Mid-Atlantic region, taking the American All-Star Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) championship in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1949. Joe continued to develop this team, choosing the best high school baseball players in the metropolitan region for an arduous summer season of practice and traveling competition. From 1950 to 1954, the team was known as the Washington Boys Club Varsity Baseball Team. In 1955, it reached its most successful incarnation under the sponsorship of E.K. Morris, owner of the Federal Storage company. The Federal Storage team dominated the local Clark C. Griffith Memorial League and won four AAABA championships between 1955 and 1962, when it lost the sponsorship of Federal Storage and disbanded.
Joe served as Director of the new Jelleff Boys Club on S Street in Georgetown from 1953 to 1961, when he was hired as a metropolitan area Scout for the expansion Washington Senators,
which later became the Texas Rangers. He was a local scout for the Rangers until his death. Joe also served as Director of Athletics and Football and Basketball Coach at Maret School, 1964-1966, and as Chief Personnel Scout and Recruiter for the University of Maryland football team, 1967-1968. Although no longer an employee of the Boys Club, Joe continued to coach and mentor the young men on his Boys Clubs teams.
Some of the young men who played on the Federal Storage teams went on to careers in professional sports, but Joe Branzell taught the boys on all of his teams more than just the rudiments of skill and strategy. Several members of the Federal Storage Alumni Association recall a tough but caring counselor who taught boys skills they would need in life, such as self- discipline, self-respect, and self-confidence. Tom Brown, former all-pro defensive back for the Green Bay Packers, remembers a “great teacher of young men” who taught “the fundamentals in baseball and life.” On October 9, 1997, Brown, along with Ray Miller, then pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles and former Federal Storage player, and Joe Klein, former Washington Senator and then General Manager for the Detroit Tigers, presented a tribute to Joe as a “father figure to thousands of young men in our region” as part of the ceremonial first pitch of the final American League playoff game.
Bob Glaser, former Brooklyn/L.A. Dodger and Federal Storage team member, compares Joe, a devout Catholic, to the legendary Father Flanagan of Boys Town, a strong leader who demanded respect, but earned it through his encouragement and support. After Joe’s death on September 28, 1997, his priest, Rev. Msgr. John F. Hogan of Holy Trinity Parish, eulogized Joe for recognizing that “sports were not mere games, but ways of expressing total team dedication, which could be translated into winning life styles.”
Scope and Content: The Joseph S. Branzell Papers, 1930s-1998, are arranged in three series. Oversized materials are described at the end.
SERIES I: SCRAPBOOKS consist of Joseph Branzell’s personal memorabilia and newspaper articles about Washington Bys Club sporting events and teams.
SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS is arranged in two sub-series. For photographs for which a negative exists, a notation has been made on the reverse of the photo. Negatives are stored separately in folder order. See reference staff to view negatives for which prints are available.
Sub-series A: Joe Branzell Photographs consists of photographs of Joe Branzell, family, friends, a Holy Trinity School reunion, and his career as a major league baseball scout, 1940s-1990s.
Sub-series B: Youth Sports Photographs consists of photographs documenting youth activities in Washington. primarily related to the local Boys Clubs. The images of sports teams include both action shots and group portraits. In addition to team sports, the collection documents other activities of the Boys Clubs, including the marching band, majorettes, Christmas parties, dances,
2
marbles tournaments, and parades. A small portion of the collection is devoted to youth activities Joe directed through his affiliations with the Big Brothers program and Holy Trinity and Maret Schools. Most of the photographs are undated and the people in the photographs are not specifically identified. When possible, dates are provided in folder descriptions. Most of the photographs of Boys Club events date from the 1940s-1960s, but most of them are not dated. Photographs are arranged alphabetically by type of sport; other activities follow, arranged alphabetically by subject. Teams are arranged within a particular sport alphabetically by the first letter of the team name shown on uniforms. The series includes some photographs of non-Washington Boys Club teams and Washington Senators and other professional teams.
SERIES III: MOTION PICTURE FILM consists of 26 rolls of 16 mm film. They are dated from 1949 through 1961 and undated. The subject matter is mainly (25 reels) Boys Clubs of Washington football games, in which the teams are divided into weight groups listed in categories of 80 lb., 90 lb., 115 lb., 120 lb., and 140 lb. There is one reel of baseball footage.
