Greenwich’s sporting life

Through Sept. 3, Greenwich Historical Society presents “Sports! More Than Just a Game,” showcasing how in Greenwich and the surrounding communities broke boundaries, tested their limits and found common ground through athletic achievement.  The show features exclusive memorabilia, historic sporting equipment and apparel and items from the collections of some of the country”™s most celebrated athletes who made their homes in Greenwich and beyond, including Jackie Robison, the Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman who broke Major League Baseball”™s color barrier in 1947; New York Mets ace Tom Seaver; Olympic gold-medal figure skater Dorothy Hamill, Olympic gold-medal swimmer Donna de Varona and San Francisco 49ers star quarterback Steve Young. 

“Athletics and organized sports have been uniting our Greenwich community, instilling core values of teamwork and inspiring local pride for generations,” says Maggie Dimock, Greenwich Historical Society”™s curator of exhibitions and collections. “Through this exhibition we hope to provide an inclusive and thoughtful story of the many athletes and community figures who distinguished themselves through sporting achievement and how competitive and professional sports shaped the town”™s unique history.” 

To kick off the new exhibit, the historical society presents a series of events aimed at developing a deeper understanding of sports and their effect on culture and society, beginning with a group of lectures:  

“The Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse” (Thursday, March 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.) ”“ Neal J. Powless of the Onondaga Nation will share a detailed history of the indigenous roots of lacrosse and discuss the game”™s significance and importance today. Powless is an All-American, All-World and professional champion lacrosse player and the first indigenous head coach of a European national team, the Dutch National Lacrosse Team. He is an international public speaker, the current ombudsman for Syracuse University and has a background in counseling and film.”¯”¯ 

For more and to register, click here.”¯

“Afternoon in the Archives: Sports Stories” (Sunday, March 19, from 2 to 4 p.m.) —  

Greenwich Historical Society archives and curatorial staff invite visitors to an afternoon in the Library & Archives to delve deeper into archival ephemera, photographs and other collection items relating to the rich social history of sporting culture in Greenwich. In celebration of Women”™s History Month, this March edition of “Afternoon in the Archives” will focus on stories relating to Greenwich”™s many female athletes and women”™s sporting endeavors. For more and to register, click here.”¯

“The Old Connecticut Game of Wicket” (Thursday, April 6, from 6 to 7 p.m.) —  

In the years before baseball became America”™s national pastime, sports enthusiasts played a variety of other bat and ball games. Connecticut residents preferred wicket, a primitive form of English cricket that evolved into baseball. Historian and author Alex Dubois, curator of collections at the Litchfield Historical Society, will examine surviving evidence of wicket play here in the 18th-century before tracing the game”™s history in Connecticut and New York. 

For more and to register, click here.