Once upon a time, long before college basketball and football became so popular, baseball was king in North Carolina. Black or white, rich college student or poor mill worker, everyone played baseball. In addition to providing entertainment for well over 100 years, baseball has been very important socially to communities, particularly in the years before television. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, it helped serve as an instrument of social change by racially integrating well before other aspects of Southern society. In addition, the careers of numerous big-league stars began in the state. We will cover the earliest years to the boom of the professional game in the 1930s and ’40s, the decline of the 1970s, and a rebirth in the 1980s. We will also discuss Black baseball, textile mill baseball, and the stadiums and ballparks of the state.

Registration deadline: Oct. 28