<P> The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located in Cooperstown, New York, and operated by private interests . It serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, displays baseball - related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport . The Hall's motto is "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations ." </P> <P> The word Cooperstown is often used as shorthand (or a metonym) for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum . </P> <P> The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Carlton Clark, the owner of a local hotel . Clark had sought to bring tourists to a city hurt by the Great Depression, which reduced the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which devastated the local hops industry . A new building was constructed, and the Hall of Fame was dedicated on June 12, 1939 . (Clark's granddaughter, Jane Forbes Clark, is the current chairman of the Board of Directors .) </P> <P> The erroneous claim that Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown was instrumental in the early marketing of the Hall . </P>

When was the baseball hall of fame established and for what reason
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