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Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience

	View Exhibit Photos
	The Pittsburgh Crawfords in front of their team bus at Greenlee Field, Pittsburgh, 1935 (Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) See more photos

Contents:
About the Exhibit | Events

About the Exhibit

In the 1880s, more than 30 African Americans were on teams in baseball's major and minor leagues. But during the 1887 season, league owners agreed to make no new contracts with African-American players. From that time on, until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, baseball was a segregated sport. By the 1920s, black baseball had its own successful professional leagues. Legendary figures such as Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, James “Cool Papa” Bell and Satchel Paige barnstormed around the country for decades, thrilling audiences with a fast-running, power-hitting style of play. Negro league baseball grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise and a focus of great pride in the African-American community.

Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, a national traveling exhibition that chronicles the remarkable history of baseball's Negro leagues and the challenges and success of African-American baseball players, will be the feature of “Black History Month” at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in February 2010. The Library — in collaboration with community partners — will present related programs and activities during the course of the five-week exhibit.

Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, a traveling exhibition for libraries, was organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York, and the American Library Association Public Programs Office, Chicago. The traveling exhibition has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. Learn more about the exhibit...

The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name on permanent display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

► Read the Press Release

► Preview this traveling exhibit by watching a video produced by Oak Park Library.

Recent Books

• Author Larry Tye talks about “Satchel : the life and times of an American legend”
  • Request a copy
• Baseball greats, Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson, talk about “Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played“
  • On order – check availability

For Further Discovery

• Library Catalog
  • African American baseball
  • Negro leagues
  • Negro leagues history
  • Negro leagues history juvenile literature
  • History of the Negro Baseball League
• Negro Baseball Leagues
• Baseball, the Color Line and Jackie Robinson
• National Baseball Hall of Fame
• Resource for Educators

Events at the Library

List 1 - 0 of 0 records Date/Time Title Location There are no events scheduled at . Please check back later. Related Events Sat, Feb 27: Negro League Exhibition All-Star Game

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