Milwaukee’s own Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, will explore the integration of America’s pastime and diversity in the game from 1945 through today during a special talk on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
The program will be part of the museum’s new exhibit, Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights, which is on view until March 25.
In The Integration of Baseball and its Aftermath, Selig will discuss the early challenges and ugly racial history of the sport, as well as the ultimate achievements of and benefits that diversity has brought to MLB. Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last July, Selig served more than 22 years as commissioner, leading the league and implementing major change throughout his tenure.
Allied in the Fight recounts the unified efforts made by American Jews and African Americans to fight for equality before and during the Civil Rights era. The exhibit reflects on national and local historical movements and connections to the segregation issues that exist in Milwaukee today. Bud and Sue Selig, as well as the Brewers Community Foundation, are among the exhibit’s local sponsors.
Selig’s program will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, 1360 N. Prospect Ave. Admission is $7 for Museum members and $12 for nonmembers. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishmuseummilwaukee.org.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
