Join us to explore baseball's growth post-Civil War and Central Illinois' unique contributions to the early game at 1:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, September 16, online and in person.
Dr. Robert Sampson, who has spent more than a decade researching the baseball craze that swept Illinois between 1865 and 1870, will share his insights into the fun atmosphere and rituals of the earliest days of America's favorite pastime.
Drawing upon his research, Sampson's latest book, "Ballists, Dead Beats, and Muffins: Inside Early Baseball in Illinois," chronicles the earliest days of baseball when it was merely a social phenomenon.
Copies of Sampson's book are available for purchase in the Museum's Cruisin' with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center & Gift Shop. A book signing and Q&A will follow Sampson's presentation.
This free hybrid event will occur in the McLean County Museum of History's historic Governor Fifer Courtroom. It will also be live online via the Museum's YouTube channel at youtube.com/McHistoryMuseum at 1:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, September 16, 2023.
A native of Mattoon, Illinois, who spent most of his life in Decatur, Sampson now resides in Bloomington. He is the editor of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. For 31 years, he has played "vintage baseball," without gloves and with the rules, uniforms, and customs of the mid-19th century.
Dr. Robert D. Sampson is a former newspaper reporter, congressional aide, and writer at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his Ph.D. in history. He has written for various academic journals and penned "John L. O'Sullivan and His Times" (Kent State University Press, 2003).
For more information, please visit mchistory.org. Questions? Contact education@mchistory.org or call 309-827-0428.