The Baseball Reliquary and Latino Heritage Present a Collaborative Exhibition: Barrio Baseball: The Los Angeles Story and Latinas at Work and Play: Pasadena Stories

March 2-March 31, 2011

Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street,
Pasadena, California

Information:
The Baseball Reliquary – terymar@earthlink.net
Latino Heritage – latinoheritage@mindspring.com

            Two Pasadena-based nonprofit organizations, the Baseball Reliquary and Latino Heritage, combine efforts to present a collaborative exhibition celebrating the Latino experience from March 2-March 31, 2011 at the Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena, California.  The exhibition coincides with the 2011 NACCS (National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies) Conference, to be held in Pasadena from March 30-April 2.
            In the Pasadena Central Library’s Humanities Wing, the Baseball Reliquary presents Barrio Baseball: The Los Angeles Story, which utilizes a variety of photographs, artifacts, and artworks to provide a look at some of the legendary Mexican American players and teams that comprised a once-flourishing culture of amateur and semi-professional baseball in Los Angeles from the 1940s through the 1970s.  This was an era in which baseball provided a means for celebrating ethnic identity and instilling community pride in the Mexican American communities of Los Angeles.  Many of the photographs and artifacts on display are from the collection of the Latino Baseball History Project at California State University, San Bernardino and are featured in a new book to be published in February 2011 by Arcadia Publishing (Charleston, S.C.), Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles, written by Professors Francisco E. Balderrama and Richard A. Santillan.
            In the Pasadena Central Library’s Centennial Room, Latino Heritage presents Latinas at Work and Play: Pasadena Stories.  During the first decades of the 20^th century, women’s roles were most closely connected with hearth and home.  This display, which utilizes photographs, textiles, and personal items, examines the changing roles of Latinas in Pasadena in the 1940s through the 1960s and reflects the range of experiences – be it as a Bobby Soxer, Guadalupana, or business owner.  A number of photographs on view originally appeared in the book, Latinos in Pasadena, published in 2009 by Arcadia Publishing (Charleston, S.C.) and written by Roberta H. Martinez.  Latino Heritage is dedicated to promoting knowledge of the Latino experience and history through cultural and educational programs.   It does so while working in collaboration with other groups reflecting the diversity of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.
            Library hours for the collaborative exhibition are Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am-9:00 pm; Friday-Saturday, 9:00 am-6:00 pm; and Sunday, 1:00-5:00 pm.  For further information, contact the Baseball Reliquary by e-mail at terymar@earthlink.net, or Latino Heritage by e-mail at latinoheritage@mindspring.com.  The Baseball Reliquary’s display is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

Al Padilla's glove from the 1940s will be part of the exhibition, and Padilla will be a featured speaker at the March 31 program at the Pasadena Central Library.	The Carmelita Chorizeros (managed by Shorty Perez, kneeling in front) was one of the greatest barrio teams from East Los Angeles and will be prominently featured in the exhibition.

SPECIAL PROGRAM:
Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles Discussion and Book Signing
Thursday, March 31, 2011, 6:00-8:00 pm
Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street,
Pasadena, California

            In conjunction with the collaborative exhibition at the Pasadena Central Library (Barrio Baseball: The Los Angeles Story and Latinas at Work and Play: Pasadena Stories) and the 2011 NACCS Conference, Professors Francisco E. Balderrama and Richard A. Santillan, authors of the newly-published book, Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles, will host a discussion on Thursday, March 31, from 6:00-8:00 pm, in the Pasadena Central Library’s Donald R. Wright Auditorium.  The discussion will feature Richard Pena and Al Padilla, two former Mexican American players who were an important part of a celebrated era for community baseball in Los Angeles from the 1940s through the 1970s, and will include a screening of historic home movie footage of the Carmelita Chorizeros, a legendary team often referred to by contemporary historians as the “Yankees of East L.A.”
            This special event will also include a book signing with the authors of, and ballplayers featured in, Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles.  In addition, two other authors of books documenting the Latino experience in the Los Angeles area will sign copies of their books: Roberta H. Martinez, Latinos in Pasadena, and Alex Moreno Areyan, Mexican Americans in Los Angeles and Mexican Americans in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach.