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Auction: 394 - Coins, Commemorative Medals, Autographs and Documents - e-Auction
Lot: 783

American League Base Ball Club of Chicago. Certificate No. 12, February 18, 1941. Issuing 1452 shares to Grace Reidy Comiskey, Dorothy Elizabeth Comiskey and Grace Lou Comiskey as Co-Trustees (Successors) under the Will of J. Louis Comiskey (deceased). Gold corporate seal. Signed by all three women, Grace Reidy and her two daughters, on the back.

Grace Reidy (1893-1956) was the daughter-in-law of Charles A. Comiskey, having married his son J. Louis in 1913. Charles A. Comiskey (1859-1931), known as "Commy" or "the Old Roman" was a major figure in the formation of the American League and was the founding owner of the Chicago White Sox. After his son, J. Louis died in 1939, Grace Reidy inherited control of the White Sox. A legal battle ensued, pitting her against the First National Bank of Chicago which wanted to sell Comiskey stock in the team to make up for lost earnings. The bank lost and in 1941 Grace petitioned the court to release her dowry rights so as to purchase more stock. Awarded the $60,000, she purchased 1000 shares in the White Sox and reassumed the majority.

On March 4, 1941, Grace Reidy Comiskey was elected President of the White Sox by the team's board of directors, becoming the first woman president of an American League team. When she died in 1956, control of the White Sox passed to her daughter Dorothy Comiskey Rigney (Dorothy married White Sox pitcher Johnny Rigney in 1941).

Large, diagonal red CANCELLED. Bottom right corner missing, spindle hole upper left margin. Otherwise Very Fine.

Estimate
$400 to $500

Starting price
$240