Springfield Parks and Baseball
Wednesday, October 11
Historian and librarian Stephanie Martin will provide a historical
perspective of the storied public parks and green spaces found within
the Springfield Park District, with a special focus on Lincoln, Iles,
Enos and Duncan parks, sharing on their early 1900’s origins, their
namesakes and benefactors, and designs.
Historian and author, Dr. Robert Sampson, will speak to Early Baseball in Illinois,
offering a vivid portrait of the epidemic growth of “base ball” which
immediately followed the Civil War, where local teams and civic ambition
went hand in hand, teams of paid professionals displaced gentlemen’s
clubs devoted to sporting fair play, and the game mirrored many of
society’s ills.
