The Coatesville Library is hosting a special virtual event on Wednesday, June 8 at 6:00 PM titled “A League of Our Own". This engaging presentation will tell the story of the Negro Baseball League and highlight some of the influential players. Our host will be the Executive Director of the Great Plains Black History Museum in Omaha, NE.  This is a free, live event and we hope you will join us!

This event can be viewed virtually at home, or in-person at the Coatesville Library.  We will project the Zoom presentation on the main level of the library.

The following background information is from the Great Plains Black History Museum about this program:

It is said that in 1839, Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball, but today’s game should be credited to Alexander Joy Cartwright. In 1845 Cartwright added the “diamond-shaped infield, foul lines, and the three-strike rule.” In 1920, Major League Baseball was founded, but their league did not allow African Americans to participate. So, that very same year, we established a League of Our Own, the Negro Baseball League. When the Negro League was founded, it started with The Chicago American Giants, the Detroit Stars, the St. Louis Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, and the Indianapolis ABCs. These teams made up the core of the Negro National League. Because of segregation, some people never had an opportunity to see these legendary National Baseball Hall of Farmers such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Wilber "Bullet" Joe Rogan, James "Cool Papa" Bell. It took 27 years for Major League Baseball to integrate its league with the Brooklyn Dodgers’ signing of number 42 Jackie Robinson.

For those who joined us for The History of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in February, you will remember an informative and engaging event.  We hope you will join us for another terrific virtual event on June 8 at 6:00 PM!  Please register by selecting "In-Person Registration" or "Online Registration" and then clicking the blue button below.