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More than Baseball: How the Negro Leagues Advanced America
Category: Lectures & Discussions
Event Date:
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Time:
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location:
Imagination Station
One Discovery Way
Toledo, OH 43604
Get Directions
Event Details:
Negro League Baseball is more than a chapter in sports history. It is a powerful reflection of Black America’s journey toward equality, resilience and recognition.
Long before integration, African American athletes played baseball at the highest level, forming their own teams and leagues in the face of segregation, Jim Crow laws and a 60 year color barrier imposed by Major League Baseball. From the founding of the Negro National League in 1920 to barnstorming teams that traveled the country, these players refused to accept exclusion from America’s pastime.
Join us for a compelling Community Conversation featuring:
• Joyce Stearnes Thompson, daughter of legendary player “Turkey” Stearnes
• Tom Runnells, former Major League Baseball manager turned artist
• Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
• John Husman, Toledo Mud Hens Historian
• Gary Gillette, Detroit Stars historian
• Tom Runnells, former Major League Baseball manager turned artist
• Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
• John Husman, Toledo Mud Hens Historian
• Gary Gillette, Detroit Stars historian
This conversation brings to life a powerful story of perseverance that not only changed the game of baseball, but helped shape the nation itself.
Free to attend with pre-registration.
