The New Exhibit

Located on the Museum’s second floor in the Yawkey Gallery, The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball will spotlight the decades-long history of Black baseball prior to the formation of the Negro Leagues, through the complexities of baseball’s re-integration, to the challenges that remain today, revealing the deep connections between baseball and Black America.

The exhibit is part of the Hall of Fame’s Black Baseball Initiative that 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 initiative will also enhance Black baseball stories found throughout the Museum.

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 the men, women and children who were and are an integral part of our National Pastime.

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 at large. Featuring 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 Black baseball history.

The Souls of the Game will feature men and women telling the story of Black baseball in their own 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. Meaningful stories from Black baseball are also being added to other exhibits throughout the Museum.