history work

Question:

Imagine that you are Director of Exhibitions at the (fictional) Museum of American Sport.  The museum has decided to display a collection of late-19th-century sporting guides for the public — the same guides we have been examining in our recent modules.  Prepare an essay of 750-1000 words about these guides, targeted at museum-goers, to be published in the souvenir program accompanying the exhibition.  What were these guides, what did they contain, what were their purpose(s), and what important things do they reveal about American sport in the nineteenth century?