-Jack Selzer
By now of course we know that the story of baseball is interconnected with the story of civil rights; after all, both are at the heart of American culture. Everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson's integration of professional baseball, and on our trip we had a chance to see historic Rickwood Field, where the Birmingham Barons and Birmingham Black Barons appeared for years: Lou Gehrig and Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean and Josh Gibson, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, even Bull Connor (announcer) and Charlie Pride.
But did you also see the photo at Highlander of a softball game being played on the grounds in the 1950s or 1960s? The teams were fully integrated, needless to say, and in the photo, crouching at catcher, was a male Highlander leader--while at bat is a young African-American girl, maybe fifteen years old, with the world's biggest smile on her face as she takes the world's biggest swing.
I told the person who was showing us around that if she ever decides to sell that photo, I want it.
By now of course we know that the story of baseball is interconnected with the story of civil rights; after all, both are at the heart of American culture. Everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson's integration of professional baseball, and on our trip we had a chance to see historic Rickwood Field, where the Birmingham Barons and Birmingham Black Barons appeared for years: Lou Gehrig and Satchel Paige, Dizzy Dean and Josh Gibson, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, even Bull Connor (announcer) and Charlie Pride.
But did you also see the photo at Highlander of a softball game being played on the grounds in the 1950s or 1960s? The teams were fully integrated, needless to say, and in the photo, crouching at catcher, was a male Highlander leader--while at bat is a young African-American girl, maybe fifteen years old, with the world's biggest smile on her face as she takes the world's biggest swing.
I told the person who was showing us around that if she ever decides to sell that photo, I want it.