Step back in time for Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, a new traveling exhibition on display July 14 – Aug. 27 at Lone Star College-CyFair.
“We are delighted to have been selected as one of only 25 sites across the country for this exhibition, which examines the challenges faced by African-American baseball players as they sought equal opportunities in their sport beginning in the post-Civil War era,” said Mick Stafford, Harris County Public Library LSC-CyFair Branch Director of Library and Information Services.
Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, an American Library Association 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.
The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name on permanent display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The colorful freestanding panels feature photographs of teams, players, original documents and artifacts in the collections of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and in other institutions and collections across the United States.
“Players in the Negro leagues were some of the most talented and inspiring sports figures of their day. This exhibition shows that, in spite of segregation, African-American players helped advance the game of baseball in many ways,” said Stafford. “This exhibition tells many remarkable stories of players and teams who were shut out of major league baseball, but persevered in a sport they loved.”
In addition to this historical display, the library will host several weeks of free programs, book clubs, and presentations as well as baseball-themed storytimes and crafts for children in the Kids Corner.
Among the summer highlights are the July 15 meet and greet with actor and Jackie Robinson impersonator Greg Kenney and his one-man show “Jackie Cross the Line” July 16. Joining Robert Fink, author of “Playing in the Shadows: Texas and Negro League Baseball,” for a July 21 program are Johnny Washington, ex-Negro League player for the Houston Eagles and Gary Crawford, operator of Negro League Legends. Washington and Crawford return for the July 22 family baseball carnival. There’s a Player’s Day at the Exhibition Aug. 10 featuring players from all levels of competition followed Aug. 11 with “If It Ain’t Got That Swing: Black Baseball and Music in the Jim Crow Era” with Lawrence Hogan, author of “Shades of Glory” and Robert Cvornyek.
For information or a full schedule of exhibition-related library programs, go to LoneStar.edu/library/prideandpassion or call 281.290.5276. The library is located on the LSC-CyFair campus at 9191 Baker Cypress. For information, go to LoneStar.edu.