More Than a Game – A Community History of Baseball & Softball
Help us reach $135,000
We are in the final push toward opening our next temporary exhibit gallery slated to open in July 2026. This exciting, multi-sensory exhibit will explore America’s Favorite Pastime through a local lens.
The essence of the exhibit can be summed up as writer Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) says in the beloved 1989 film Field of Dreams: “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers…but baseball has marked the time. This field, this game – it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.”
For over 150 years, McLean County’s ballfields, dugouts, and stands have reflected the evolving story of our community — its shifts in leisure, technology, race, and gender. From the first games played before the Civil War to today’s thriving women’s softball leagues, these sports mirror the changing fabric of American life.
Fabrication and interactive costs have exceeded initial estimates. Your tax-deductible gift will help bring this exhibit to life — creating a space where visitors of all ages can immerse themselves in the history of the game, walk on turf, call a play, and share stories and memories together.
Check out some local baseball history below
‘Pop’ Dillon of Normal found baseball success in LA
Bloomington-Normal’s ties to the national pastime are long and deep.
Most famously, National Baseball Hall of Fame...
Bloomington’s Cliff Carroll 19th century baseball standout
With Major League Baseball’s spring training well underway in the warmer, sunnier climes of Florida and Arizona, thoughts of this...
Indoor baseball once popular winter pastime
Part of baseball’s attraction as the National Pastime is the sport’s inextricable connection to the rhythm of the seasons—how it...
McHistory: Baseball ban a dark day for some in Bloomington
McHistory: Bloomington’s Unsung Baseball Great
Normal Sanitary Dairy baseball uniform donated to Museum
The Museum recently received a Normal Sanitary Dairy baseball uniform worn during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The dairy not only...
Baseball Collection
Floyd, Arthur Softball Collection
Arthur Floyd (1900-1988) was an insurance agent for the Industrial Casualty Co. In private life he served as assistant to the State...
Siebert, Dorothy Softball
Dorothy Anna Siebert was born October 6, 1933, in Congerville to Henry and Louise McBurney Siebert. She graduated from Normal...
Softball Collection
The collection includes yearbooks, programs, scorebooks, schedules, and other items relating to men’s, women’s, and girls’...