HISPANIC HERITAGE CELEBRATION 2000
Diamond of Hope and Glory: The Life and Times of Latin Americans in the Negro Leagues / Un Diamante de Esperanza y Triunfo: Historia de los Latinoamericanos en las Ligas Negras de Béisbol
Curated by Todd Bolton, Smithsburg, Maryland; Dr. Lawrence Hogan, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd Committee; and Juan Enrique Cintrón, Sala Hispanoamericana, The Newark Public Library
First Floor Lobby and Second Floor Gallery
September 21 - December 31, 2000

Discover some of béisbol's greatest players. This special traveling exhibit traces the evolution of Latin baseball in the United States from the early barnstorming teams through the decades of Negro League baseball. It focuses on many of the great Latin American stars as well as highlighting many of the Negro League records that they hold. Diamond of Hope and Glory offers a glimpse of what the major leagues were missing all those years. A complementary section spotlights contemporary Latin baseball superstars.

Horacio Martinez, appeared in more Negro League East-West All Star Games than any other latin player.

There is an abundance of Latin American talent in professional baseball today. At every level of the game Latin players are excelling and have been for many years. Latin Americans have also been placed among the immortals in Cooperstown. They are an integral part of our National Pastime. But it wasn't always this way.

Alejandro Crespo, played for the Negro National League, New York Cubans, member of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame .

During the first half of the century the majority of Latin players were excluded from the major leagues. Just as the case with African American players, they were barred because of the color of their skin. For over forty years scores of Latin American athletes competed and excelled in professional baseball in the United States. They became stars of the Negro leagues. Their names and their stories have remained obscured. They represented their countries best. They became heroes here, to the fans of black baseball and they had the adulation of the people in their homeland. One out of five of the Latin players in the Negro Leagues would go on to be immortalized in a Hall of Fame.

Emilio Navarro, first Puerto Rican to play in Negro Leagues 1928-29 with Eastern Colored League Cuban Stars, member Puerto Rican Hall of Fame.

This special traveling exhibit traces the evolution of Latin baseball in the United States from the early barnstorming teams through the decades of Negro League baseball. It focuses on many of the great Latin American stars as well as highlighting many of the Negro League records that they hold. Diamond of Hope and Glory offers a glimpse of what the major leagues were missing all those years. A complementary section spotlights contemporary Latin baseball superstars.

1940 New York Cubans

This exhibit was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Friends of the Newark Public Library.