In 1964, the Birmingham Barons become Alabama’s first integrated sports team. This is 17 years after Jackie Robinson integrated the Major Leagues. What took so long?

Today, we hear how baseball helps desegregate America’s most segregated city. Roy Wood Jr. takes us back to 1960s Birmingham, when nonviolent protests for racial equality are met with bombings by the Ku Klux Klan. We learn about the business owner who decides to bring baseball back to Birmingham after a two-year hiatus, this time in an integrated environment. And we hear from some of the players on the city’s first integrated team about their experiences on field, in the community and on the buses traveling throughout the Deep South.

This episode was written and produced by Alana Schreiber and hosted by Roy Wood Jr.

Our executive producer is Alana Schreiber and our senior producer is Ben Dickstein.  Our producers are Jonah Buchanan and AL.com’s Cody D. Short. Mixing and sound design by Joaquin Cotler and story editing by Ryan Vasquez. Artwork by Xavier Murillo. Original music composition by Squeak E. Clean Studios. Voice tracking by Alt Mix Studio.

Special thanks to Paul Maassen, The Friends of Rickwood Field, Birmingham Public Library archives, AL.com and WBHM. 

For more stories on Rickwood Field, check out https://www.al.com/rickwood-field/

This podcast is produced by WWNO and WRKF. Distributed by the NPR network. Support from Major League Baseball, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Explore St. Louis.