America’s Favorite Pastime and Black History

2/23/2023

Baseball has often been considered “America’s Favorite Pastime.” The traditions, pageantry, and excitement of the game have been a source of entertainment for fans of all ages for well over 100 years. On February 16, 2023, as a part of the ongoing education at Ensworth surrounding Black history, students on Red Gables Campus learned the history of the Negro Leagues and the opportunity it provided African-American ballplayers throughout the country and especially here in Nashville.

Ensworth welcomed the Nashville Stars as they told their story for the first time in a school setting like ours. The Nashville Stars organization hopes to bring MLB to Nashville and be the first minority-owned MLB team.

Long-time local journalist Dwight Lewis talked about Butch McCord, a former Negro League player, U.S. Marine, and mentor of Jason Maxwell. Ro Coleman, a Vanderbilt graduate and member of the Commodore’s 2014 College World Series Championship team, talked more about the importance of preserving the history of the Negro Leagues and the current mission of the Nashville Stars Youth Foundation.

As the assembly closed, students had the opportunity to test their knowledge from what they had just learned in a game of Kahoot! Each grade had the chance to come up, and every class got all the questions correct (they were paying attention!).

Ensworth’s Middle School Head, Dr. Darwin Mason, and his sixth-grade daughter Deryn sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson to close the Assembly.