Boomer Harding's baseball cardA set of 21 baseball cards celebrates the players who made up the barrier-breaking baseball team, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars.

Presentation to open museum display on Black history

Principals of “Breaking the Colour Barrier: Wilfred (Boomer) Harding and the Chatham Coloured All-Stars,” which documents the 1934 squad that was the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship, will discuss the project in a free public presentation Thursday, February 1, at the Chimczuk Museum.

History professor Miriam Wright and librarian Heidi Jacobs, who directed the project, and Dave Johnston of the Leddy Library, who created its website, will help to launch a display about it at the museum to open Black History Month.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. and will also feature the sale of baseball cards featuring the Chatham players, with proceeds benefiting the Chatham Kent Black Historical Society.

Designed by cartoonist Scott Chantler, these cards feature a player photograph, biographical statement and, where possible, player statistics for the 1934 season. Cards are laser printed in colour on 12pt C2S cardstock and packaged in an acid-free, ultra-clear polypropylene bag.

The museum, located at 401 Riverside Drive West, will offer free admission February 1.