Museum’s School Resource Kits Help Educators Share Black Baseball History with Students

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – As the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum prepares to unveil the groundbreaking The Souls of the Game exhibit this spring, the Museum’s Education Department is helping teachers and students explore the history of Black baseball through no-cost learning tools.

The Museum is offering School Resource Kits as part of its Black Baseball Initiative, which will feature the opening of The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball on Memorial Day Weekend. Materials in the School Resource Kits support the delivery of the Museum’s Civil Rights History curriculum in a classroom setting.

The curriculum aligns with national learning standards, and the kit includes all the materials necessary to complete two activities, including creating a timeline of important events in Black baseball history prior to Jackie Robinson’s National League debut in 1947; and researching and creating baseball cards for Hall of Famers who played in the Negro Leagues.

School Resource Kits are available for Rookie Level (Grades 3-5) and Intermediate Level (Grades 6-8) classrooms and feature books, Library and Archive collection facsimiles, school supplies, printed material and lesson plans, virtual resources and a 3-D replica artifact.

The School Resource Kits are one of the outreach programs that are part of the Museum’s Black Baseball Initiative. The Initiative is made possible by the Yawkey Foundation with additional support from Bill Janetschek in honor of his siblings Robert and Ann, the Anthony A. Yoseloff Foundation and the Bisignano Family.

Only public elementary and middle schools are eligible to receive a School Resource Kit at no cost. The Museum’s Education Department Team will review all requests.  Title 1 schools are encouraged to apply.

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

The Hall of Fame East-West Classic: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Game will be played Saturday, May 25, at Cooperstown’s historic Doubleday Field and feature Hall of Famers Harold Baines, Ken Griffey Jr., Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Fred McGriff, Eddie Murray, Jim Rice, Lee Smith and Ozzie Smith as managers and coaches.

Fueled by assistance from Major League Baseball, the East-West Classic rosters will consist of more than two dozen former big leaguers, including team captains CC Sabathia and Chris Young along with players Josh Barfield, Tim Beckham, Ian Desmond, Prince Fielder, Dexter Fowler, Curtis Granderson, Tony Gwynn Jr., Jerry Hairston, Scott Hairston, LaTroy Hawkins, Ryan Howard, Edwin Jackson, Jeremy Jeffress, Adam Jones, Howie Kendrick, Russell Martin, Darrell Miller, David Price, Tony Sipp, Dee Strange-Gordon, B.J. Upton, Justin Upton and Dontrelle Willis.

Harold Reynolds of MLB Network and Mets’ World Series hero Mookie Wilson will join the rosters as honorary team members.

The game will be part of a weekend celebration as the Museum opens its new exhibit The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball. Located on the Museum’s second floor in the Yawkey Gallery, The Souls of the Game will cover 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.

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