Hall of Fame Negro League Election Committeeman Rob Ruck opened the speaking portion of the conference by explaining exactly what this park meant to him. “During the half century that baseball was divided by a color line Black America created its own parallel sporting world. During the 1930s and 40s Pittsburgh was the jewel in its crown.”
Pittsburgh finally honored its rich tradition as far as Negro League accomplishments in 1988 when the Pirates became the first MLB team to celebrate and honor the Negro Leagues and apologize for segregation.
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“Luckily the Pirates are winning now but before then, we had 20 losing seasons so the kids never saw a winning baseball team. So what we would teach is the history of baseball and you can’t tell it without the Negro leagues,” said Sean Gibson, president of the Josh Gibson Foundation.
Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, Cumberland Posey, Vic Harris and Buck Leonard will be among seven other Pittsburgh greats who will be remembered with paintings that will provide biographical and historical information about the players and their teams. Each one will be carefully painted by artist Dino Guarino. Above their enshrinement will be steel girders in homage of the Grays’ origin as a steelworkers’ team and for the city’s heritage as a steel town. The Crawford’s inherited their name from a Hill District bathhouse and recreation center but there are no plans to add any tubs.
The Park will be located at Station Square on land donated by Forest City Commercial Group and will be free and open to the public and will allow visitors to relive the history and culture of Negro League baseball in Pittsburgh. The target date for the park to open is spring 2017. Unfortunately, the $2.5 million price tag needed to finish it means that date is not set in stone.
Angela Wheland, vice president of FedEx Ground donated $500,000 as part of their sponsorship by FedEx Ground for the construction of Josh Gibson Heritage Park.
“Everyone at Fed Ex Ground is excited about this opportunity. It looks to be a beautiful park in a great location in the center of Pittsburgh for kids and tourists alike to learn about urban league baseball, the players and their great contributions to Pittsburgh and to baseball itself,” Wheland said.
Josh Gibson, who played in the Negro Leagues from 1930-46 (the last three of which he played with a brain tumor) died of a stroke at the age of 35 in 1947, three months before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, but as a testament to his greatness and undeniable talent, was still enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
As president of the Josh Gibson Foundation, Gibson feels his great grandfather’s legacy is positioned to live on well past himself as he said “This is one piece of history that not only will Pittsburgh get to see but the whole nation will get to see when they come to Pittsburgh.”
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