Sports are an indelible part of our culture and community. For well over one hundred years sports have reflected the trials and triumphs of the American experience and helped shape our national character.
Whether it’s professional sports, or those played on the collegiate or scholastic level, amateur sports or sports played by kids on the local playground, the plain fact is sports are everywhere in America. Our love of sports begins in our hometowns–on the sandlot, at the local ball field, in the street, even.
Each weekend, hundreds of thousands of Americans participate in some sport, on some level. We win and we lose, and we yearn to play another day. And if we’re not playing, we’re watching: in the stands, on the fields with our sons and daughters, or in our living rooms with friends in front of a television.
Football, baseball, and basketball capture our attention most, but more and more, other non-traditional sports vie for our time and support. On any given weekend in America, sports are a big part of what we do.
Hometown Teams captures the inextricable connection between towns and their teams. The exhibit will showcase the sports, individuals and artifacts that have been an indelible part of every community, for well over one hundred years.
Hometown Teams will be on display at this location March 1 – April 13, 2014.
It will travel to Mattoon on April 19, 2014 next.
This exhibition is free and open to the public.
- Thursdays – Saturdays: 10 AM – 5 PM
- Sundays: 1 – 5 PM
Docent Tours: Avalailbe on request
Local Exhibit Related Events
1. “Opening Reception with the Cobden Pep Band” – Saturday, 3/1 at 10a
2. “All Work and No Play?: Sports in the CCC Camps” – Sunday, 3/2 at 2p
3. “Mixing Business & Pleasure: Merchant Teams, Etc.” – Sunday, 3/9 at 2p
4. “A Team Apart: Segregation in Sports, 1924-1954” – Sunday, 3/16 at 2p
5. “The Amazing Appleknockers: 50 Years Later” – Sunday, 3/23 at 2p
6. “We Can Do It!: Before and After Title IX” – Sunday, 3/30 at 2p
7. “There’s No ‘I’ in Hometown Teams” – Sunday, 4/6 at 2p
For more information, contact the Union County Historical and Genealogy Society at (618) 893-2865 or (618) 893-2882.
Visit the official Hometown Teams site for more information on the exhibit.
Photo Credits/Sources:
New York Giants & Sports Awe photos from life.time.com/sports-culture/
Tennis Photo of Althea Gibson from Library of Congress