NEW BERN — New Bern-Craven County Public Library is one of 50 libraries nationwide to hosts a traveling exhibit titled “Pride & Passion — The African-American Baseball Experience.”
The exhibit, which opens Friday, was organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the American Library Association Public Programs Office in Chicago.
The exhibition tells the story of how black baseball players from the late 19th century onward persevered through discrimination to excel.
In the 1880s, more than 30 African-Americans were on teams in baseball’s major and minor leagues. But opportunities diminished as Reconstruction ended and segregation became entrenched as part of American culture. During the 1887 season, league owners agreed to make no new contracts with African-American players.
Black baseball players, shut out of the major leagues, organized their own baseball clubs, and starting in the 1920s, formed their own leagues.
This exhibition tells the story of Negro league baseball and how it grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise and a focus of great pride in the African-American community. Players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and James “Cool Papa” Bell, and teams like the Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and Birmingham Black Barons drew enthusiastic crowds, developed a reputation for a fast-running, power-hitting game, and paved the way for the integration of the sport.
“We are looking forward to sharing this exhibit with the community,” said Joanne Straight, head librarian. “The display shows that, in spite of segregation, black players helped advance the game of baseball in many ways.
“The Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro league team, were the first to develop a successful lighting system for night games, five years before Major League Baseball played its first night game. They carried their own generators and light stands with them on the road. Many more remarkable stories of players and teams who were shut out of major league baseball, but persevered in a sport they loved, are shown throughout the exhibit.”
Programming began Tuesday at the library with a Reel Readers presentation of “The Jackie Robinson Story.”
On Saturday, “Soul of the Game” will be shown at 2:15 p.m.
After the exhibit’s opening reception on March 14 at 4 p.m., there will be a program titled “Sweet Sport in the Carolinas,” an oral history about baseball in New Bern.
On March 23, a lecture titled “The Moral Significance of Sports: How Sports Reflect and Affect Society” will be presented by Jan Boxill, senior lecturer, UNC Philosophy Department. Boxill is director of the Parr Center for Ethics and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at UNC and was an announcer at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
An April 13 program will feature former Negro League players Clifford Layton and Kinston’s Carl Long talking about their experiences.
The traveling exhibition has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name on permanent display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
For more information, call 638-7800 or on the web: newbern.cpclib.org.
Breakout box:
“Pride & Passion — The African-American Baseball Experience” is coming to the New Bern-Craven County Public Library
Programs:
Friday:
n Exhibit opens, 400 Johnson St.
Saturday:
n 2:15 p.m. — “Soul of the Game”
March 13
n 4 p.m. — Movie Day: “Everyone’s Hero” Children, kindergarten to grade 5
March 14
n 4 p.m. — Opening reception
n 4:30 p.m. — “Baseball in New Bern: Oral Histories”
March 21
n 4 p.m. — Baseball-themed story time: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” kindergarten to grade 2; “Batter Up!” grades 3 to 5
n 7 p.m. — “Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart.” Play by Mike Wiley Productions at the N.C. History Center
March 22
n 10 a.m. — “Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart.” Play by Mike Wiley Productions at the N.C. History Center.
March 23
n 2 p.m. — “The Moral Significance of Sports: How Sports Reflect and Affect Society.” Lecture by Jan Boxill, senior lecturer, UNC Philosophy Department
April 13
n 2 p.m. — “Life in the Negro Leagues” Former Negro League players Clifford Layton and Carl Long discuss experiences.
April 18
n Exhibit closes