Greenwich’s sporting life – Westfair Communications

Through September 3, the Greenwich Historical Society is presenting “Sport! More Than Just a Game”, which shows how Greenwich and the surrounding communities pushed boundaries, tested their limits and found common ground through sporting achievement. The show features exclusive memorabilia, historic athletic gear and apparel, and items from the collections of some of the country’s most famous athletes who have called Greenwich and beyond, including Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robison, who won the Major League color barrier Baseball broke through in 1947; New York Mets ace Tom Seaver; Figure skater Dorothy Hamill, Olympic gold medalist, Donna de Varona, Olympic gold medalist swimmer, and Steve Young, star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

“Athletics and organized sport unite our Greenwich community, instilling core values ​​of teamwork and inspiring local pride for generations,” said Maggie Dimock, curator of exhibitions and collections for the Greenwich Historical Society. “Through this exhibit, we hope to provide a comprehensive and thoughtful history of the many athletes and community figures who have excelled in sport, and how competitive and professional sports have shaped the city’s unique history.”

To kick off the new exhibition, the Historical Society is presenting a series of events to deepen the understanding of sport and its impact on culture and society, starting with a series of lectures:

“The Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse” (Thursday, March 16, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) – Neal J. Powless of the Onondaga Nation will share a detailed history of lacrosse’s indigenous roots and discuss the meaning and importance of the game today. Powless is an All-American, All-World, and professional lacrosse player and the first native head coach of a European national team, the Netherlands national lacrosse team. He is an international public speaker, the current Ombudsman for Syracuse University, and has a background in consulting and film.

For more and to register click here.

“Afternoon in the Archives: Sports Stories” (Sunday, March 19, 2-4 p.m.) —

The archives and curatorial staff of the Greenwich Historical Society invite visitors to the Library & Archives for an afternoon to delve deeper into archived ephemera, photographs and other collection items relating to the rich social history of sporting culture in Greenwich. In celebration of Women’s History Month, this March issue of Afternoon in the Archives focuses on stories relating to Greenwich’s many female athletes and women’s sporting endeavors. For more and to register click here.

“The Old Connecticut Game of Wicket” (Thursday, June 6th) Clock) –

In the years before baseball became America’s national pastime, sports enthusiasts played a variety of other bat and ball games. Connecticut residents favored wicket, a primitive form of English cricket that evolved into baseball. Here, historian and author Alex Dubois, curator of the Litchfield Historical Society’s collections, will examine surviving evidence of 18th-century wicket before tracing the history of the game in Connecticut and New York.

For more and to register click here.