Bats, Balls, Nets & Hoops: Stories of Sports in Brooklyn is a curriculum created by the former Brooklyn Historical Society’s education department. This curriculum examines the impact of sports in Brooklyn. In particular, the use of Prospect Park for recreational activities, the impact and legacy of Jackie Robinson, Basketball's everlasting promise of empowering players to always go for the hoop, and a young girls story of how running enabled her to fight racism on the track.
This curriculum is organized around four case studies, and includes:
- Primary and secondary materials from the Center for Brooklyn History’s collections and other archives, including photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, and oral history transcripts and audio.
- A Demonstration Folder that enables you to practice with students before they work on their own with primary and secondary materials contained in the four Case Study Folders.
- A Teacher’s Guide, with lesson plans, historical background information, timelines, teaching ideas, guiding questions, extension activities, and reproducible activity sheets.
- Critical-thinking questions (Think About It) and structured writing exercises (Write It) to help students observe, question, analyze, and interpret the material.
The four case studies folders, Prospect Park: A Place to Play, Crossing the Color Line: Jackie Robinson Joins the Dodgers, Lightning Speed: Track Star Mary DeSaussure Sobers, and Got Game? Shooting Hoops in Brooklyn, sources for each lesson. Links to the corresponding Oral Histories are below.
We hope that you and your students enjoy using the material in this curriculum kit, and we hope to see you soon at the Center for Brooklyn History.
CBH Education
Bats, Balls, Nets & Hoops Curriculum and Sources
- Bats, Balls, Nets & Hoops Lesson Plan
- Demonstration Folder
- Prospect Park: A Place to Play
- Crossing the Color LIne: Jackie Robinson Joins the Dodgers
- Lightning Speed: Track Star Mary DeSaussure Sobers
- Got Game? Shooting Hoops in Brooklyn
Oral Histories
George Shuba - George Shuba was born on December 13, 1924 in Youngstown, OH. He joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 and played with the team until 1955.
Oral History Clip #1 Oral History Clip #2 Transcripts
Irwin Fenichel - Irwin Fenichel was born on March 13, 1937 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Fenichel talks about being a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in the 1940s and 1050s.
Oral History Clip Transcript
Susan Horowitz - Susan Horowitz was born on October 18, 1949, and grew up in Brooklyn near Ebbets Field, the home stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Mary DeSaussure Sobers - Mary DeSaussure Sobers was born on December 22, 1931 in Eutaville, SC. She was a founding member of New York City’s first track-and-field club for African-American girls, the Trail Blazers.
Oral History Clip Transcript
Alan Fishman - Alan Fishman was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn in 1946 and played basketball at Erasmus Hall High School. He has worked in the banking industry for over 30 years.
Oral History Clip Transcript
Albert King - Albert King played professional basketball from 1981 to1989 for the New Jersey Nets.
Oral HIstory Clip Transcript
Albert Vann - Albert Vann was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 1934. From 1975 to 2001, he served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 56th District. He represented the 36th District in Brooklyn in the New York City Council.
Oral History Clip Transcript