Baseball, Civil Rights and the Anderson Monarchs Barnstorming Tour (special) - w/ Steve Bandura and Derrick White

Teaching Hard History

In 2015, Coach Steve Bandura loaded the Anderson Monarchs, a little league baseball team from Philadelphia, onto a 1947 Flxible Clipper Bus for a barnstorming tour back in time. Bandura and the players recount lessons learned while visiting historic civil rights sites, meeting veteran activists and playing baseball along the way. And historian Derrick E. White, co-host of The Black Athlete podcast, explores the intersection of sports and civil rights history.

Listen to our latest Spotify playlist for even more Movement Music inspired by this episode!

For good advice on teaching about barrier breakers like Jackie Robinson, read “More Than a Name: Teaching Historic Firsts”.

See pictures of the Anderson Monarchs Civil Rights Barnstorming Tour from the team’s website. And see great footage from the road in this video about the tour.

After you listen to The Black Athlete podcast, check out Derrick White’s book about the history of Black College Football: Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

See Mo'ne Davis on the cover of Sports Illustrated in this article about the underdogs from Philadelphia who took the Little League World Series by storm.

Be sure to visit the enhanced episode transcript for additional classroom resources for teaching about sports and the civil rights movement.

And Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen to the episode for the special code word. Then visit learningforjustice/podcastPD.