 Hi, welcome to the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. I'm Alice Camps, curator of All American, The Power of Sports. Let's go on a tour. It's about how sports powered efforts to unite American citizens, to teach American values, and to promote the American way around the world. It's also about how athletes use their power to break social barriers and protest injustice. This panel is about the Trailblazer series of graphics. Look for them throughout the exhibit to learn how historic athletes paved the way for some of our contemporary heroes. The exhibit has four sections. Each explores a different power of sports. The first is the power to unite. The most dramatic example of this happened at Game 3 of the World Series in 2001, just weeks after the attacks of 9-11, when President George Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium in New York City. After the pitch crossed the plate, the crowd burst into spontaneous chants of USA, USA, USA. President Bush said he'd never experienced anything so powerful. The highlight of this section is the New York Fire Department jacket that President Bush wore over a bulletproof vest during that historic event. For some of the 110,000 American citizens and residents of Japanese descent who were incarcerated during World War II, baseball was a way to proclaim their American identity. Here we have photos, newsletter articles, and a drawing of a baseball game by artist Mine Okubo that show the importance of baseball to camp life. Section 2 is about the power of sports to teach values like teamwork, fair play, and competition. Basketball was invented by James Naysmith in 1891. It was so popular among both boys and girls that it quickly spread across the country. Soon there was a market for basketball equipment and people buying to patent it. Here's a 1925 patent for a portable goal, a big improvement on the original peach baskets that Naysmith used. Hundreds of thousands of Native children were forced or coerced to attend boarding schools, many funded by the federal government. The goal of the school's programs has been described as kill the Indian to save the man. Many students resisted through sports. Playing basketball, football, and baseball allowed them to express pride in their tribal identities and demonstrate their power. The National Archives has fantastic film footage of sports throughout history in its holdings, and there are several videos in the exhibit. One of my favorite features Walter Camp, known as the father of American football. He was commissioned by the military during World War I to create training exercises for soldiers. He called these series of exercises the Daily Dozen, and they later became a fitness craze in the United States. Through fierce determination and profound courage, athletes like Joda Maggio, Kenny Washington, and Billy Jean King broke race, class, and gender lines. Elthea Gibson broke class and color lines as the first black American to win the U.S. Open in 1957. One of the trophies she won playing doubles at Wimbledon is on display. First baseman and power hitter Hank Greenberg was one of the first Jewish sports superstars. He made the news for refusing to play on the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kippur in 1934. Roberto Clemente was a source of pride for Puerto Rican and other Latinx Americans, not just for baseball, but for his military service and humanitarian efforts. We recently discovered this photograph in our holdings. At first we were mystified by it because it shows a black football team at West Point in 1926, and West Point football wasn't integrated until 1966. As we later learned, black cavalry units known as Buffalo Soldiers were brought to West Point to teach horsemanship to the cadets. Apparently they also formed a football team, playing in Jermuril and other college and semi-professional teams. Not long after we found the photo, we learned that a local collector had one of the team's trophies. The artifact proves the Buffalo Soldiers team dominated the West Point Jermuril Football League in 1929. Also on display is Title IX, the act that protects girls and women from discrimination in education. Title IX created many new opportunities for women to play sports at the college and professional level. Some champion teams visit the President at the White House to celebrate, and when they do, they frequently bring a gift, like this Wisconsin women's hockey team jersey and this Indiana fever basketball. The final section is about the power of sports to promote a positive vision of the United States around the globe, and the power of athletes to challenge the nation to live up to it. The best athletes in the world have come to Berlin, and 51 nations are represented here today. Nations compete for political power at the Olympic Games. Gold medals equal bragging rights for the governments that produce winners. Athletic dominance in international competitions enhances a country's reputation and inspires national pride. The triumphs of athletes like sprinters Jesse Owens and Wilmer Rudolph have been put forward as triumphs of American democracy. But when those athletes went home, they faced racist laws and institutions. After retiring from baseball, Jackie Robinson was active in the civil rights movement. Frustrated by the pace of change, Jackie Robinson wrote to Richard Nixon running for president at the time. Robinson asked Nixon, how long can one expect black Americans to be patient? The show features many artifacts signed by sports legends that were given as gifts to various presidents. Here we have a book signed by Bill Russell given to President Barack Obama, and a glove signed by Muhammad Ali. Thank you for joining me on this tour of All American, The Power of Sports. I hope you'll visit in person. The exhibit is open through January 7th, 2024. And remember, as the inimitable Yogi Berra said, if you come to a fork in the road, take it. All American, The Power of Sports is our new temporary exhibit opening in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This exhibit is a celebration of the ways that sports have shaped our nation, our identity, and our shared history, as well as an opportunity to reflect on the times that athletes have called on the U.S. to live up to its ideals. American life is infused with sports. We play sports in school. They're part of our holiday tradition. Great sports stories permeate our history. Sports are part of who many of us are and how we identify ourselves as Americans. So it's no surprise that you can find fascinating stories related to sports and athletes and the records of the National Archives. All American draws from our holdings across the nation, including some exciting artifacts from our presidential libraries. Several of our presidents were athletes. For example, Gerald Ford turned down offers to play for the National Football League. Our exhibit includes a letter inviting the future president to join the Green Bay Packers for $110 per game. The exhibit shows how sports have helped us expand our concept of who we accept and respect as truly American. For example, it showcases records that demonstrate that during World War II, Japanese Americans who were incarcerated by the government found baseball was not only a way to escape the TDM of camp life, but to proclaim their loyalty to the United States and to their identity as Americans. We even have sports related records found in surprising places. In the Leavenworth Penitentiary Records, our archivists discovered documents that show that there was an unusual prison to professional baseball pipeline in the early 1900s. An inmate named Roy Tyler was paroled to Andrew Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League, to play for the Chicago American Giants. I hope you enjoy our newest exhibit, All American, The Power of Sports. It's open at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. through January 7, 2024.