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Black Athletes in Sports Exhibit

Come on out to the Museum to see the new temporary exhibit on black history in football and baseball. Did you know that the very first Black man to play pro football on an integrated team was Charles Follis in 1902? Or that Moses Fleetwood Walker was the last Black baseball player to play in the International League in 1889 until Jackie Robinson? These are just some of the little-known histories that will be discovered throughout the exhibit. We also conducted oral histories with five people from Greenville that are or were known in the athletics field. Enjoy snippets of our conversations in the exhibit with Byron Bell and his mother Sandra Linson-Bell, Cecilia Barr about her brothers (Thomas brothers), John Mason, Jr about his father John Mason, Coach Spencer Gilbert and Ricky Simmons. The exhibit will be on display until the end of April so take some time to learn more about our Greenville athletes and the early black athletes who played professional ball. The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10-5 and admission is $8 adults, $6 seniors/veterans/college students and $3 6-18 yr. olds. The will be up through the end of April. For more information contact the museum at (903) 450-4502.