The National Archives Celebrates Baseball's Opening Day with Special Program
Press Release · Tuesday, April 15, 1947

Washington, DC

The National Archives Celebrates Baseball’s Opening Day with Special Program

Author Lecture on Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

Washington, DC…On Wednesday, April 18, at noon, the National Archives presents a book discussion with Jonathan Eig author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season. Eig’s Opening Day offers an intimate and surprising portrait of a true baseball legend and an enduring symbol of civil rights.

April 15, 1947, is perhaps the most memorable date in baseball. When the Brooklyn Dodgers opened their season on that day, an African American man took the field in a major-league baseball for the first time. Amid death threats, isolation, and segregation, Robinson broke the color barrier, all the while being the most scrutinized ballplayer on the planet. Through interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from the National Archives, Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era.

This program, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Jefferson Conference Room of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, located on the National Mall at Constitution Ave. and 7th Street, NW. The National Archives is fully accessible. If you need to request an accommodation (e.g., sign language interpreter) for a public program please e-mail public.program@nara.gov or call 202-357-5000 two weeks prior to the event to ensure proper arrangements are secured.

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For press information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs Staff at: 202-357-5300.

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