Baseball is as American as hot dogs, peanuts and beer, and summer sunburn. But baseball is also spectacularly northern and Alaskan. How about a night game, with no lights? Happens in the land of the Midnight Sun every summer.
Baseball grew up with the north. On Hometown Alaska, public historian Katie Ringsmuth will share the history of baseball in Alaska, but also some unexpected cultural threads and influences—such as indigenous baseball, baseball diamonds on ice, all-women teams and integrated teams. All are a part of our state's rich baseball history.
You may remember the Anchorage Museum's centennial exhibit dedicated to the sport, Home Field Advantage: Baseball in the Far North. Ringsmuth curated that exhibit and has fascinating stories to tell.
HOST:
GUEST:
- Katie Ringsmuth, historian and curator of Home Field Advantage: Baseball in the Far North, Anchorage Museum
LINKS:
- Home Field Advantage: Baseball in the Far North, Anchorage Museum exhibit
- Alaska Baseball League, Wikipedia
- Baseball in Alaska, Alaska State Museum
- Innings under the Midnight Sun: Museum exhibit links baseball with the history of Alaska, Alaska Dispatch News May 14, 2015
- Baseball in the Great White North, Think Blue LA blog
- Baseball in Alaska: No night games, even at night, San Jose Mercury News blog, July 20, 2015
- Ken Burns America, Jackie Robinson, PBS documentary
- Jackie Robinson, a new Ken Burns film, only on PBS, Salon.com
REPEATED BROADCAST: Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 2:00 & 8:00p.m.
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