“Women in Baseball” to feature history of Watervliet’s Maud Nelson

A new exhibit at the North Berrien Historical Museum will highlight the history of women’s baseball from its origins to the present day. “Women in Baseball: Bloomer Girls of Berrien County and Beyond” will be on display at the North Berrien Historical Museum from June 17 through November 11, 2011. An opening reception is planned for Friday, June 24 from 5-8pm.
The exhibit discusses why after more than 150 years as ‘America’s pastime,’ baseball remains a predominately male sport, despite the fact that women have played the game since its invention in the mid-19th century. Although American society in general may have looked at women's involvement in baseball as a curiosity, the exhibit brings to life the images of women who loved the crack of the bat and the thrill of a running one-handed catch with two outs in the ninth, according to guest curator John Kovach of St. Mary’s College.

“Women in Baseball” features nearly 200 objects ranging from picture postcards, game programs, photographs, baseballs, jerseys, and a uniform from the 1993 movie A League of Their Own. Exhibit visitors will get to know Jackie Mitchell, who played for the House of David and struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in 1931, and Sophie Kurys, of the South Bend Blue Sox, who still holds the record for the most stolen bases in one season in any league -- 201 steals in 203 attempts in 1946.

The local highlight is the story of renowned pitcher Maud Nelson who lived in Watervliet from 1904 to 1917. Maud was one of the most influential female baseball players in American history with a career spanning over forty years. In 1901 Maud Nelson was playing for the Chicago Star Bloomers when she married her team manager John B. Olson Jr. In 1904 the couple moved into a farm in Watervliet on what is now the Paw Paw Lake Golf Course. At the time John Olson managed the Cherokee Indian Baseball Team, which traveled around the country in a custom Pullman railcar. Newspapers reported that Miss Maud Nelson, the famous lady pitcher, pitched two or three innings for the Indian team starting in 1908. In 1910 Maud Nelson became owner-manager of the Western Bloomer Girls who traveled the country competing against male teams in front of huge crowds.

To compliment the exhibit there will be several speakers and programs during the summer and fall. Guest curator John Kovach will speak at the museum on the history of girls and women in baseball on Tuesday, June 21 at 7pm. The House of David Echoes will play a Vintage Baseball Game behind Coloma Elementary School on July 22 at 6pm. On August 16 at 7pm, the Loma Theatre will screen the documentary The Girl in Centerfield, which tells the story of Carolyn King of Ypsilanti, who in 1973 was the first girl to play in Little League. Finally on September 20 at the museum a panel of former All-American Girls Baseball League players will discuss their experiences playing ball for teams in Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo during the 1940s and 1950s. Admission to the exhibit Women in Baseball and all programs is free of charge.

For more information call Executive Director Alexander Gates at 269-468-3330 or visit www.northberrienhistory.org.