Wendy Phillips: Home of the Negro Leagues

These portraits of children who played in the "Home of the Negro Leagues" recreation proprgam in Adams Park in Atlanta evoke the presense in spirit of some of the original players. During 1999 andd 2000 I worked in the park, making these images before and after games. I asked only the children's permission for the photograph and that they compose the picture themselves. The resulting gestures and placement of the objects used to play the game reflect those I observed when I researched the original Negro Leagues archival photographs. The similarities suggest the children's inexplicable knowing about those first players who created their own league during the time of legal segregation. Perhaps there exists in those who are passionate about the game an element of connectedness that transcends time and place.

S-T-R-I-K-E

Cory n' Sed

Birmingham Black Barons

In Honor of Toni Stone