April 25, 1947: The White House Bowling Alley Opens

On this day in 1947, President Truman inaugurated the two-lane White House bowling alley. 

Although Truman did not play much (he was more into poker), he helped start the White House Bowling League. The bowlers included Secret Service agents and groundskeepers. Unfortunately, the alley was closed in 1955, but a new one was built in the Eisenhower Building. 

Love bowling? Check out Independent Lens’ “Bowling through the Decades” timeline .  

Images (top to bottom): View from the end of the bowling alley in the White House 1948, bowling alley in the White House 1948, long view of the bowling alley in the White House 1948 (Truman Library/National Archives).

Via: pbsthisdayinhistory

April 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the “baseball color line”.

Professional American baseball was established in 1869, four years after the end of the Civil War; while African-Americans did have their own clubs and professional leagues, Major League Baseball was de facto segregated from its founding until 1946 (non-whites had previously played in the MLB, however), when Jackie Robinson, a Georgian and a Negro League baseball player, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

Robinson played his first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field in front of a crowd of 26,000, over half of whom were black. Robinson received torrents of racist hatred and resentment from spectators, from opposing teams, and from even his own teammates. When Robinson, who had once been court-martialed during his time as an army officer for refusing to move to the back of a bus asked Branch Rickey, “are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” Rickey famously responded that he was looking for a player “with guts enough not to fight back”. Robinson’s first step toward the integration of Major League Baseball was neither smooth nor simple - Robinson was heckled with slurs and even injured while playing, he and his family were met with death threats and violence, and some of his own teammates refused to play alongside a black player (though others, like Pee Wee Reese and Hank Greenberg defended Robinson). But his debut was a monumental moment in baseball history; in 1948, 1951, and 1956, baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron all signed with major league teams. 

In 1962, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His jersey number, 42, has since been retired by all Major League Baseball Teams. Later in his life, he served on the board of directors of the NAACP, supported the SCLC and CORE, and worked to promote civil rights - writing that he wouldn’t “‘have it made’ until the most underprivileged Negro in Mississippi can live in equal dignity with anyone else in America.” 

via unhistorical

Beautiful Photos of Old Baseballs

As a new season of Major League Baseball begins, one photographer focuses on baseballs past — that is, baseballs that have lain dormant well after their last pitch.

For years, photographer Don Hamerman walked his dog near an old baseball diamond in Stamford, Conn. And in all different seasons, in all kinds of weather, Hamerman picked up old baseballs.

He brought them back to his studio, where they sat around for years until he finally decided to start photographing them in 2005.

Hamerman, who hasn’t been to a ballgame in 10 years, admits that he cares more about aesthetics than history. He says he doesn’t even know what baseballs are made of — he just loves the way they look.

Finding Beauty In A Baseball, After The Last Pitch

Photo Credit: Don Hamerman

via nprradiopictures

Ed note: Meet the man who custom designs baseball bats for the pros.

(via wnycradiolab)

It’s Time to Retire the Indian Motif in Sports

When Kevin Gover was a kid growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, college students at the nearby University of Oklahoma had begun protesting the school’s mascot. Known as “Little Red,” the mascot was a student costumed in a war bonnet and breech cloth who would dance to rally crowds. Gover, who today is the director of the American Indian Museum, says he remembers thinking, “I couldn’t quite understand why an Indian would get up and dance when the Sooners scored a touchdown.” Of Pawnee heritage, Gover says he understands now that the use of Indian names and imagery for mascots is more than just incongruous. “I’ve since realized that it’s a much more loaded proposition.”

On February 7, joined by a panel of ten scholars and authors, Gover will deliver opening remarks for a discussion on the history and ongoing use in sports today of Indian mascots.

Though many have been retired, including Oklahoma’s Little Red in 1972, notable examples—baseball’s Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, and football’s Washington Redskins—continue, perhaps not as mascots, but in naming conventions and the use of Indian motifs in logos.

“We need to bring out the history, and that’s the point of the seminar, is that it’s not a benign sort of undertaking,” explains Gover. He’s quick to add that he doesn’t regard the teams’ fans as culpable, but he likewise doesn’t hesitate to call out the mascots and the names of the teams as inherently racist. - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.

Ed note: The director of the American Indian Museum believes that in a decade or two, culturally insensitive mascots in sports will be gone. What do you think?

How to Build the Perfect Basketball Shoe

Inventor Tinker Hatfield is responsible for the original design concepts of Air Jordan sneakers, one of the most widely recognized and highly coveted products from the 1990s. The jagged line of color on the edge of the sole that became a trademark; the revolutionary “Air” bubble design, a small plastic window in the sole of the shoe which allowed you to see the cushioning system inside, are all ideas that came from one man who seems to know a little more about building than just shoe design. - Continue reading at CooperHewitt.org.

Ed note: Want to read more about design? Check out our “Design Decoded” blog.

Images of Brain Injuries in Athletes

A new study of 85 people who had a history of repeated mild head traumas found that 68 of them had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The photographs illustrate the deterioration of the brain.

The dark areas of the brain show the spread of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. - Continue reading at the New York Times.

Pictured is the brain of Cookie Gilchrist who died in 2011. He played six seasons of professional football.

Ed note: Five concussions in one game has parents questioning Pop Warner football.

Photo of the Day: “Possessed to Skate”

Photo by: Zohar Linden (New York, New York); Venice Beach

How One Soccer Team Defeated the Nazis

FC Start, a group of soccer players living in Nazi-occupied Kiev, used the game to find hope and inspire their fellow countrymen.

Produced by: Danny Arruda, ESPN
Filmed and Edited by: Evolve Digital Cinema

Ed note: That time when German and British soldiers called a truce and played soccer on Christmas Day during World War I.

Document Deep Dive: A Peek at the Last Time London Hosted the Olympics

The National Archives in London unveiled a new web site, The Olympic Record, containing hundreds of digitized documents and images from the past 112 years of Olympic history. We focused on two charts in particular for more insight into the 1948 Games.

Here, you see that the javelins on loan from Finland are valued at 17 pounds, 5 shillings and 11 pence. With inflation, that amount is equivalent to 532 pounds and 19 shillings today.

Ed note: Our guess is you probably watched the Opening Ceremony last week from the comfort of your couch? You’ll appreciate that even more once you know why the Ancient Olympics were no fun to watch.

Our Guide to the London Olympics

A gold medal for art? Greg Louganis on diving? Political turmoil during a water polo match? All this and more can be found within our guide to the games.

Photo: Zach Ancell (Decathlete Ashton Eaton)