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On the Other Side of the Color Barrier: Segregation and the Negro Leagues
Background Information for Teachers

For more information, see the Negro Leagues substory.

Web Sites

Baseball and Jackie Robinson: About the Collection. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/jrhtml/jrabout.html

This collection, fully titled Baseball, the Color Line, and Jackie Robinson, pulls together historical materials from different sections of the Library of Congress. You can browse it using a timeline segmented into five different periods: Drawing the Color Line (1860s-1890s), Barnstorming & the Negro Leagues (1900-1930s), Breaking the Color Line (1940-1946), Robinson as a Dodger (1947-1956), and Robinson's Later Career (1956-1972).

MLB.com- Negro Leagues http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/mlb_negro_leagues.jsp

Major League Baseball web site includes an extensive section on the Negro Leagues under the heading history. Contains biographies, articles on barnstorming and segregation, a photo gallery and a section with audio and video interviews with former players.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum http://www.baseballhalloffame.org

The Hall of Fame's website provides the rundown on current exhibits, a series of historical articles, and a view of every enshrinee's coveted plaque.

Negro League Baseball Player Association http://www.nlbpa.com/

Official web page of the Negro League Baseball Players Association. Contains bios of over 300 former Negro League baseball players and information on over 40 different teams. Site features recent Negro League news including interviews with living former players. Has links to related sites.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. A Century of Segregation I PBS http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/segregation2.html

This site is highly recommended for teachers to put the events of this lesson plan into a larger societal context. It features a timeline highlighting historical events regarding segregation and civil rights [e.g. Emancipation Proclamation (1863), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and Brown v. Board of Education (1954)], including Jackie Robinson's feat of playing in the major leagues and breaking a color barrier in baseball (1947).

Video

Baseball: A film by Ken Burns, 1994.
Documentary on the history of baseball, divided into 9 segments or innings. The Fifth inning, titled Shadow Ball, covers the focuses on Negro baseball during the 1930s and 1940s. Uses primary sources and personal interviews.
Soul of the Game, PG-13, 1996.
There are some scenes inappropriate for the middle school audience. Movie is set in 1945 and shows the relationship between Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Jackie Robinson. It would be excellent to show for the personality of the Negro Leagues. Also contains a scene of Paige and Gibson experiencing discrimination in the South.
There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues. (1989). NR. Directed by Craig Davidson.

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