Quick Notes: "Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball," exhibit to debut at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Spring of 2024
The Souls of the Game will feature men and women telling the story of Black baseball in their voices.
The stories and impact of the Black baseball experience will be recognized and celebrated through The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball, a groundbreaking new exhibit opening in the spring of 2024 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.
From the decades-long history of Black baseball before the formation of the Negro Leagues, through the complexities of baseball’s re-integration, to the challenges that remain today, The Souls of the Game will reveal the deep connections between baseball and Black America.
The exhibit is part of the Hall of Fame’s Black Baseball Initiative, includes additional outreach programs, educational materials, and virtual programming, and 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. The new exhibit will be in the Yawkey Gallery.
The Souls of the Game, a title that pays tribute to W.E.B. Du Bois’s seminal 1903 book “The Souls of Black Folk,” will explore the Black baseball experience of those African-American men, women, and children who were and are an integral part of our National Pastime.
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Subtitled Voices of Black Baseball, the exhibit will highlight first-person accounts by the many individuals whose Black baseball experiences shaped them, their community, baseball, and America.
Souls of the Game will feature historically significant artifacts, important documents, and engaging photographs, and utilizing audio, video, and interactive elements; the exhibit will tell a more inclusive story of baseball, shine a light on and correct misconceptions about Black baseball, and provide an authentic, cohesive narrative of African-American baseball history.
The Souls of the Game will feature men and women telling the story of Black baseball in their voices.
Sections 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.
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