In the presence of Giants
Decades before Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play in the major leagues, the Foundry Giants—a team of Black players working in the Studebaker factory’s foundry—were making a name for themselves as one of the strongest independent baseball teams in the Midwest.
The South Bend team played in Studebaker’s otherwise all-white industrial league in the 1920s and 1930s and saw about a half dozen of its players go on to play in the Negro Leagues.
Now, nearly a century after John “Big Pitch” Williams faced down his last batter and Dusty Riddle and Alonzo Poindexter cracked their last singles and doubles, the Giants are inspiring a new generation of ballplayers at Foundry Field.
Scheduled to open this summer, Foundry Field is a new public-access baseball field in Southeast Park and a collaborative community project led by the Sappy Moffitt Field Foundation, the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center, and South Bend Venues Parks and Arts.
Latest ND NewsWire
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- Notre Dame Democracy Initiative hosts bipartisan conversation with Western state governorsTwo Western state governors known to work across the aisle on policy issues such as water, housing and energy will visit the University of Notre Dame for a fireside chat about how Western state pragmatism can serve as a model for the country to overcome polarization.
- In new research, Roy Scranton explores climate change and the limits of human progressIn his most recent book, “Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress,” Scranton, an associate professor of English, defines the impasse he sees as “not only political and institutional, but cognitive, existential and narrative” and asserts that the only path forward is through embracing what he terms ethical pessimism. “A lot of people confuse pessimism with nihilism, apathy and despair,” Scranton said. “But pessimism is actually about recognizing our limits, letting go of unrealistic goals, finding solidarity in the fact of human suffering and doing what you can now, not in some utopian future.
- Notre Dame MBA launches deferred admission programThe Notre Dame MBA Deferred Admission Program allows candidates with little or no work experience, including college seniors, to secure admission before reaching the recommended three years of work experience to enroll.
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- ND experts on the canonization of Carlo AcutisAs the Church awaits the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Leo XIV will formally declare Acutis a saint, University of Notre Dame experts Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Brett Robinson and Timothy O’Malley reflect on his life and his path to sainthood.
