Exhibit at City Hall honors Negro League ballplayers, legends of the game, in danger of being lost to time

MILWAUKEE -- Faces, names and stories make up a new exhibit inside Milwaukee's City Hall.

“They have heard about Jackie Robinson. They have heard about Satchel Paige, and maybe a few of the other guys," said former ballplayer Dennis Biddle.

Dennis Biddle

They're legends of the game, in danger of being lost to time.

“These news articles are part of the Negro Leagues that they don’t know nothing about," said Biddle.

For decades, the Negro Leagues were the premier outlet for black athletes who were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues.

“Some of them would have been Hall of Famers had given the opportunity," said Biddle.

The exhibit hopes to honor those legacies. It’s thanks to the Yesterday’s Negro League Baseball Players Foundation. Student groups are invited to tour the exhibit, and then pair that with a workshop at their school.

“What we do is we take the experiences of the Negro League baseball players, and the history, and we teach the 21st century learning concepts," said Patrice Smith, program director.

That includes living history from the likes of Biddle, a retired social worker who says he played in the 1950s.

Dennis Biddle

“A living player, a living legend. To be able to go and speak to the kids and tell the true history because he was there, he was a part of it. That’s most essential," said Smith.

The traveling exhibit will be at Milwaukee's City Hall through February 24th.