
MELSA offers a a touring exhibit, They Played for the Love of the Game: Adding to the Legacy of Black Baseball
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MELSA met with staff from the Ramsey County Historical Society (RCHS) last summer to explore collaboration using Legacy funds. There have been a few interpretive programs at Ramsey County Library, and our larger collaboration is for MELSA libraries to host a traveling exhibit that is based on an exhibition at the Landmark Center in 2010.
MELSA used Legacy funds to have RCHS fabricate text and image panels that are easy to transport to any MELSA library that wants to host the exhibit. The exhibit curator Frank White and RCHS staffer Mollie Spillman consult with the host library regarding the best ways to display the panels. And Frank uses his extensive baseball contacts to curate and present public programs. MELSA also provides collection support for the host library to purchase recommended titles on the topic to be added to the host library collection for the public to read more about black baseball in Minnesota. We’ve been in conversation with the Minnesota Twins to link to the exhibit on their website. The public has responded enthusiastically to the exhibit.