St. Louis Public Library

Photo by www.slpl.org Title: St. Louis Public Library logo
Source: www.slpl.org

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY CELEBRATES LATINO-AMERICAN BASEBALL PLAYERS

The St. Louis Public Library is proud to present a panel discussion, They, Too, Played America's Game, as part of its Missouri Latinos project at 7 p.m. on April 14 at Central Library, 1301 Olive St.  The event is FREE and open to the public.

Adrian Burgos Jr., the author of Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line and one of the nation's foremost authorities on Latinos' history in baseball, will lead a discussion on the early struggles and now-growing impact. He is joined by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's vice president of curatorial and education services, Raymond Doswell.  A reception to follow.

In addition, the PBS documentary, Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, is available for checkout.

Before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, only light-skinned Latino players were welcomed in the Major Leagues while most Latinos played in the Negro Leagues or barnstormed around the country. Latinos now account for more than a quarter of all players in the Major Leagues. With star players Carlos Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, and Yadier Molina, the St. Louis Cardinals are no exception.

The Missouri Latinos project, which began in 2015, seeks to illuminate the deep and abiding heritage of the Latino culture that has been making its mark on Missouri. The Library, along with the Missouri Humanities Council, the Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates, the Kansas City Public Library, Daniel Boone Regional Library and the Springfield-Greene County Library District, is dedicated to bridging the state from west to east.

This program is part of the Latino Americans: 500 Years of History series in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council, under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.

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