Author Series: Under Jackie’s Shadow: Voices of Black Minor Leaguers Baseball Left Behind

What was it like to be Black and playing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1965, or in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1973? What was it like to play for white coaches and scouting directors from the Jim Crow South who started their careers in a segregated game before Jackie Robinson ushered in integration?

Mitchell Nathanson provides insight into the hidden world of minor league baseball in the era just after Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Based on Nathanson’s interviews, Under Jackie’s Shadow uses the players’ own words to tell the unvarnished story of what it was like to be a Black player navigating the wilds of minor league baseball following the integration of the major leagues. Harrowing, beautiful, and maddening, these stories are vital to our understanding of race not only in baseball but in the United States as a whole.

The program begins at 1 pm in the Bullpen Theater and virtually. There will be a book signing in the Library Atrium following the program.

Virtual participants may join us live on the Hall of Fame's Facebook page.