Dover Public Library to hold Cleveland Indians baseball history program February 11

DOVER, Ohio - The Dover Public Library will host Carl Quatraro for a virtual discussion “The History of the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo” on February 11 at 6:30 p.m.

Quatraro will discuss the name changes that the franchise went through until settling on the Indians nickname in 1915. He will explain where the name "Indians" came from, the three home fields of the Indians since 1901, and the history and origins of the now-retired Chief Wahoo.

The goal of the presentation is to clarify the current decision of team owner Paul Dolan, who announced late in 2020 that the team would no longer be called Indians and instead would be looking for a new moniker. The team has previously been called the Spiders, Bluebirds, Broncos, and Naps (the last after player-manager Napoleon Lajoie).

The name Indians was adopted in 1915 with the intention of honoring Louis Sockalexis, a Native American from the Penobscot Nation who is credited as one of the first Native American major league players. Sockalexis had played with the team in the late 1890’s and had died in 1914.