Rare collection of Brooklyn Visitation American Basketball League (ABL) programs dating from 1929 and 1930. The ABL, founded in 1925, was the first professional basketball league. The Brooklyn Visitation joined the league in 1927 and won ABL championships in 1931 and 1935. All early ABL material is exceedingly scarce and these are the earliest ABL programs we have ever seen, let alone offered. Three of the programs were issued for regular-season ABL games, while the fourth was issued for a game against the Renaissance Five (also known as the New York Renaissance or Rens), which was the first black-owned and all-black professional basketball team. The three official ABL programs (9x12") are all fold-over examples, while the one issued for the game against the Renaissance Five is a single sheet (7x11"; printing on each side). All have been scored in pencil. Each of the ABL programs is in Good condition overall, with horizontal and vertical folds, creases, and small edge tears. The Visitation/Renaissance program is in Fair to Good condition, with staining, edge tears, folds, and creases.

The collection consists of the following:

1) ABL program issued on December 15, 1929, for a game between the Visitation and Cleveland Rosenblums. A photo of Visitation center Pat Herlihy is featured on the cover. The interior lineups feature Hall of Famers Joseph Brennan for Brooklyn and Joe Lapchick for Cleveland.

2) ABL program issued on February 23, 1930, for a game between the Visitation and the Rochester Centrals. The game also heralds a future game against Fort Wayne and features a photo of Fort Wayne's Rusty Saunders on the back cover. The interior lineup features Hall of Famer Joseph Brennan for Brooklyn.

3) ABL program issued on March 2, 1930, for a game between the Visitation and the Fort Wayne Hoosiers. A photo of Fort Wayne forward Dave Banks is featured on the cover. The interior lineups include Hall of Famers Joseph Brennan for Brooklyn and John Beckman for Fort Wayne.

4) Program issued for "Championship Basketball Tournament" game at Madison Square Garden Court on Wednesday, December 10th, between the Brooklyn Visitation and the Renaissance Five. No year is listed on the program, but "1930" is written in pencil on the front (research indicated that December 10th fell on a Wednesday in 1930). The lineups feature Joseph Brennan for Brooklyn and Clarence "Fats" Jenkins, Pappy Ricks, and Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, for the Renaissance. The reverse lists the lineups for two preliminary games held that night.