Baseball Hall of Fame inductees to receive additional honors
By: Lacey Korevec
Baseball and history will be the focus during a Community Education workshop titled Black Baseball’s Long Road to the Hall of Fame: New Jersey Leads the Way on Sept. 28.
The event, held at the South Brunswick High School on Ridge Road, will celebrate the induction of 17 pre-Negro League and Negro League executives and players into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which took place July 30.
Lawrence Hogan, who was on the selection committee for the group that voted the new members in, and Robert Scott, a New York Black Yankees Veteran Negro leaguer, will speak at the event.
Dr. Hogan is a history professor at Union County College and author of the book "Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African American Baseball".
"From my understanding, they will go back to the playing of baseball in the pre-Civil War South and then talk about the role that the Negro Leagues played and then they will talk about the integration of baseball with Jackie Robinson," said Director of Community Education Catherine Kujawa.
The program is one of 120 courses offered by Community Education. Ms. Kujawa said they think it is important for South Brunswick residents to learn about this piece of American history.
"They will have the opportunity to learn about the history of a sport that many of our community members participate in and watch," she said. "Baseball is kind of universal. And that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to do this."
Aimed at anyone who enjoys baseball or history, the program is open to the community for a $24 fee, which includes a one-time $5 fee for the semester. Seniors can attend for $22, which also includes the $5 additional fee. For this particular event, high school students are allowed to attend for $24, so long as a parent also attends.
"I think many times, students only think of history as something in a textbook, as opposed to the living history of a sport that they may enjoy playing," she said.
Those interested can register by phone by calling Nancy Kinal at (732) 297-7800, ext. 3148. A registration form can be download from the district’s Web site and faxed to (732) 348-2110. Another option is to stop by the school board offices on Black Horse Lane, she said.
"We’re encouraging people to register early so that we know what size room we need," she said.