Black Baseball Initiative Bringing School, Youth Groups to Cooperstown

COOPERSTOWN—Thanks to a two-year support commitment from NBT Bank, young learners from throughout Upstate New York will visit Cooperstown in the coming weeks and months as part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Black Baseball Initiative.

Middle-school children from programs like the Youth Empowerment Outreach Program in Syracuse and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area as well as the Syracuse City School District and the Utica City School District will spend a day at the museum.

These day-long events at the Hall of Fame include a tour of the museum by Hall of Fame educators, a presentation of one of the museum’s education lessons and lunches for the students.

NBT Bank President and CEO John H. Watt Jr. stated that the company is proud to support the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Black Baseball Initiative.

“We often talk of our commitment to the communities we serve,” Watt Jr. said. “Our ability to enable students from Upstate New York communities to visit the museum at no cost is a prime example of how we see that promise come to life. I am honored that we can help these students learn more about the Civil Rights Movement and Black history through the lens of baseball.”

These visits to Cooperstown are part of the Hall of Fame’s Black Baseball Initiative that includes additional outreach programs, educational materials, virtual programming and a new exhibit opening in Spring of 2024 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 groundbreaking new exhibition, “The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball,” will replace “Ideals and Injustices,” the museum’s current exhibit about the history of Black baseball. From 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, “The Souls of the Game” will reveal the deep connections between baseball and Black America when it opens in the spring of 2024 in the Yawkey Gallery. 

For more information about the museum’s Black Baseball Initiative, visit https://baseballhall.org.