Chris Siriano is a local realtor, House of David historian, founder and curator of the House of David Museum, and as of late, filmmaker. His first film was House of David Life Everlasting, a documentary looking at the House of David and its local history. The film has won widespread critical acclaim and at least 37 international film awards. To date, Siriano says close to a million people have seen it.
Still gleeful after the unexpected success of his first film, Siriano, working closely with Rob Byrd from Moondog Productions, is about to launch his second film, House of David, the Bearded Boys of Baseball. As the title states, the film’s subject is still the House of David, but focusing specifically on the traveling baseball team. Siriano said when you talk about baseball, there’s a lot of interest in the topic generally. Add to that the history of the House of David, and it seemed like a ripe topic to explore.
“That is the one that we chose to run with right off the bat because it’s baseball, America’s favorite pastime. It’s the biggest, most sought after subject of the House of David’s story because it touched the major league, minor league, and Negro League baseball worlds.”
Siriano tells us the film delves into some of the religious colony’s unique aspects and how the group’s beliefs and practices led to a natural inclination toward high-energy competition.
“They started playing baseball because Benjamin Purnell, the (House of David) leader, loved baseball. And back in 1914, he noticed a real energy level with the teenage boys and the young twenties boys (who) couldn’t be with the opposite sex because they were a celibate society. There’s a whole lot of pent-up energy with these young guys.”
Siriano said it wasn’t just the energy level of the House of David team, it was their unique look that made them stand out.
“When you started to grow whiskers, you could never shave. They were definitely a huge oddity on the baseball diamond, which made them really popular. Because they were good and they were an oddity, they were a gigantic draw.”
Siriano said by 1915, the House of David team won the state championship of Michigan and by 1917, they were featured in the Spalding Baseball Digest, the “Bible of baseball” back in the day.
Siriano said the baseball team was an immediate sensation. They captured the attention of the whole country and teams across North America wanted to play against the House of David. Some celebrities played for the team, even if they weren’t House of David members. Siriano said players occasionally wore fake beards and joined the team for games, including Grover Cleveland Alexander, Satchel Paige, and even Babe Ruth.
As the curator of the House of David Museum, Siriano has spent decades collecting artifacts, interviews, and conducting research. In his 30-plus years, he said he’s interviewed players, held House of David baseball reunions, read hundreds of news accounts, and come across surprising discoveries. Siriano said working with producer and director Rob Byrd, is challenging in a good way.
“Rob Byrd is really, really, really picky about accuracy, which is good. He’ll give me a list of like 400 photos that were missing and because of the different interviews he’s like, ‘Chris, prove this. Chris, show this. We need to show this. We need to prove this.’ So that’s a cool part and people will see things they’ve never seen.”
“When we really started digging deep… we definitely discovered some crazy cool stuff in these last couple years. And it’s just uncovered itself. There were people that came up after (watching) the (first) movie to me and said, ‘Chris, I want to talk to you. My dad, my grandpa played baseball for the House of David, and he said this, this, this, this, and this. Now, those stories are mind blowing. They’re mind blowing to me. And this will be the first time it’s on film. And we’re going to tell the whole story, everything.”
“In early baseball, people flocked to towns to watch baseball games back in the day when there were no TVs and barely any radios. And what the House of David did was (bring) kindness, open-mindedness, warm-hearted feelings to baseball that didn’t really exist. Before that, it was more of a straight up competition. So they came to your town to play your semi-pro team or your barnstorming team, that they probably beat, but in the meantime, they made you laugh.”
Siriano said the film captures more than baseball. He said it is a snapshot of America during its struggle to overcome racism. The House of David used the sport as a way to cross societal boundaries.
“They didn’t like the prejudice that was in America. And it’s a really, really cool story that’s also told by Phil Dixon, the founding person of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum out of Kansas City, Missouri. He tells the story in a beautiful way that is not coming from Chris Siriano. This is the leading Negro League authority of the world. And he travels every day across the country, across the planet, telling the story of Negro League baseball. You wait till you hear his story. It’s mind blowing.”
Siriano plans to debut the film later this year.
“Our hope is that it’ll be on the big screen before Christmas or at least by Christmas. That’s our goal. It’s a lot of work. It’s literally a mountain of work, a mountain of time. I nearly went blind on the last one, just to try to sort through 10,000 photographs to be totally historically accurate on every word of everything that we tell in the movie.”
Siriano said you don’t have to love baseball to appreciate his new film. He said it’s a part of early American history that’s told in a unique way, through the lens of a group of bearded young men who loved the competition and camaraderie.
“It’s about a cool, unique, way of life that happened here in Michigan that went around the globe because of the uniqueness and beautiful ways of the House of David people. Sadly, they’re all gone now.”
