Josh Gibson Foundation hosts Negro League Centennial webinar series

With the pandemic making it difficult to hold a proper celebration of the Negro Leagues Centennial Anniversary, the Josh Gibson Foundation is holding a series of webinars this year featuring a lineup of all-star speakers.

The series, “Negro Leagues Matter: A Centennial Celebration,” will debut on Saturday, Jan. 23 and continue monthly through December. Each episode will be streamed live for audience members via Zoom in one-hour segments including a Q&A session.

Access will require a free registration; donations from patrons also will be accepted.

The speakers include Byron Motley, an award-winning filmmaker and author and son of legendary Negro Leagues umpire Bob Motley; Vanessa Ivy Rose, the granddaughter of Baseball Hall of Famer Norman “Turkey” Stearnes; and Rob Ruck, author of several important histories on Black baseball in Pittsburgh and baseball in the Dominican Republic. Ruck is a history professor at University of Pittsburgh.

“As we continue to celebrate the Negro Leagues Centennial, we wanted to find a way to honor our past and give our supporters unique perspectives and different ways to learn about the Negro Leagues,” said Sean Gibson, executive director of the Josh Gibson Foundation. “We look forward to welcoming a broad range of speakers who will continue to educate and engage our audience.”

The 100^th anniversary of the Negro Leagues was being celebrated in 2020 but with covid-19 curtailing so many of the scheduled events, Gibson and others decided it was appropriate to continue the observance in 2021.

“We decided to make lemonade out of lemons, and this webinar series was a nice way to continue the focus on the leagues and their legacy,” said Josh Gibson Foundation Historian Thomas Kern.

To register, visit Joshgibson.org.

There will also be a Josh Gibson Foundation Gala scheduled for October, Kern said.