Baseball As America at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Elsass

Spent a few days in Washington DC for business this past week and had an opportunity to stop by and see the Baseball As America exhibit. In case you get the chance to stop by and see it, there is an incredible mix of material, cards, etc. One of the T206 Wagner cards was there, even with a small pin hole in it, it is still an incredible sight to see. Lew Lipset's name was all over several items as the point of origin, he must have a pretty kind heart to donate some of the specimans that were there. All in all, very high recommendation to see (took about 30 to 45 solid minutes to view each item, maybe longer)... not to mention all of the other items that are at the Smithsonians. Here is some info from the web site:

"Baseball As America is a national celebration of America 's romance with baseball. Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and drawn from its unparalleled collections, this unprecedented exhibition marks the first time that these Hall of Fame treasures have left their legendary home in Cooperstown, New York .

Through the exploration of a broad range of themes, including immigration, nationalism, integration, technology and popular culture, Baseball As America reveals how baseball has served as both a reflection and a shaper of American society.

Baseball As America examines such aspects of the game as the rituals of fans and players; myth making and the role of heroes; the impact of technology on performance; segregation, integration and baseball's role as a ladder of mobility for ethnic groups; the game's evolution as a business; the physics of the home run and the curveball; and baseball's presence throughout popular culture as a subject and metaphor, among many other aspects. Ultimately, Baseball As America reveals how the development of American culture owes so much to a 19th century game, affecting everything from our language and literature to movies, mass communication and art.

For more information, visit the tour Web site at http://baseballasamerica.org.

The exhibit is on the first floor of the museum and runs through October 3, 2004."