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How one teenager unearthed baseball's untold history - Cam Perron

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Teenager Cam Perron loved baseball, so he began writing letters to the veteran players on his baseball cards. He only wanted autographs, but eventually acquired something even richer: the often unsung history of the Negro leagues. After hearing the stories, Cam took it upon himself to help former Negro leaguers get the recognition, reimbursement and reconnection to the game that they deserved.

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The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues, and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues"."Because blacks were not being accepted into the major and minor baseball leagues, they formed their own teams and had made professional teams by the 1880s. The first known baseball game between two black teams was held on November 15, 1859, in New York City. The Henson Base Ball Club of Jamaica, Queens, defeated the Unknowns of Weeksville, Brooklyn, 54 to 43."Should baseball's opening day be a national and/or federal holiday? See what Kenneth C. Davis, TED-Ed Educator and renowned historian, says about it here.Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond. From this humble beginning would grow the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier that segregated the sport for more than 50 years.In 1972, U.S. Congress passed Title IX, a law which prohibited discrimination against women in schools, colleges, and universities -- including school-sponsored sports. Before this law, female athletes were few and far between, and funding was even scarcer. Erin Buzuvis and Kristine Newhall explore the significance and complexity of Title IX.Teen's research brings Negro leagues to life

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Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Cam Perron

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