Celebrate Black History Month with Stories, Programs at Hall of Fame

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – As the nation celebrates Black History Month in February, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will pay tribute to the contributions of Black Baseball pioneers, heroes and legends with programming in Cooperstown and online while hosting local and regional students.

These programs and activities are part of the Hall of Fame’s continuing Black Baseball Initiative, which featured the 2024 debut of the groundbreaking new Museum exhibit The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.

Fans can learn about Black baseball history through free virtual programs hosted by the Museum’s team of educators. Upcoming events include:

Virtual Field Trip: Early Black Baseball 1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 6 Join us for a virtual program that explores the efforts of early Black baseball pioneers like Octavius Catto and the Philadelphia Pythians, Bud Fowler, Moses Fleetwood Walker and the Cuban Giants. Click here for more information.

Virtual Voices of the Game: Carl Rogan and Joyce Stearnes Thompson 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11 Join us for a Virtual Voices of the Game program with descendants of two Hall of Famers: Carl Rogan, the grandson of Hall of Famer Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, a two-way star with the Kansas City Monarchs, and Joyce Stearnes Thompson, the daughter of Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, one of the best hitters in the history of the Negro Leagues. The elder Rogan pitched, played the outfield, and served as a manager during a career that lasted from 1920 to 1938, while Stearnes led his league in home runs on six occasions. Click here for more information.

Exhibit Encounter: The Souls of the Game 1 p.m., Friday, Feb. 21 Join a Museum educator as we explore The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball exhibit in this in-person event at the Museum (Museum admission required).

As many schools in the northeast pause for Winter Break in February, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates Jackie Robinson’s heroic journey – along with countless other milestones – in honoring Black History Month. The Museum will host special daily programs for kids of all ages Feb. 17-21 as part of Presidents’ Week. Families can experience unique Museum artifacts and learn about the history of Black Baseball and participate in programming throughout the week, including an interactive Pop-Up in the Museum’s Learning Center where guests will explore images, hands-on items from the Hall of Fame’s education collection and select artifacts that relate to Black baseball history. All events are included with Museum admission.

Several school groups will visit the Museum on field trips throughout February. For more information about school visits to the Museum, click here.

For students and educators looking for additional opportunities, the Museum is offering School Resource Kits as part of the Black Baseball Initiative. Materials in the School Resource Kits support the delivery of the Museum’s Civil Rights History curriculum in a classroom setting. School Resource Kits are available for Rookie Level classrooms (Grades 3-5; one kit per grade level per school) and feature books, Library and Archive collection facsimiles, school supplies, printed material and lesson plans, virtual resources and a 3-D replica artifact.

Public elementary schools are encouraged to request a School Resource Kit at no cost. The Museum’s Education Department Team will review all requests, and priority will be given to Title I schools.

To request School Resource Kits or to support the program, please visit baseballhall.org/resource-kits.

The Hall of Fame officially opened The Souls of the Game exhibit on Memorial Day Weekend 2024, with 15 Hall of Famers and hundreds of distinguished visitors returning to Cooperstown for the event. Located on the Museum’s second floor in the Yawkey Gallery, The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball covers stories of early Black baseball, the Negro Leagues era, the complexities of reintegration, Jackie Robinson, post-reintegration progress and retrogress, and calls for change in today’s game while celebrating the newest superstars of the era. Meaningful stories from Black baseball are also being added to other exhibits throughout the Museum, including The Art of Baseball, Taking the Field, Diamond Dreams and Whole New Ballgame.

For more information about the Museum’s Black Baseball Initiative, please visit baseballhall.org/BBI.