The entrance to the Sports exhibition featuring statues of John Carlos and Tommie Smith with their fists raised at the 1968 Olympics.
Community

Sports

Leveling the Playing Field
Communicator Award of Excellence logo Silver Vega Award logo Davey Award 2023 Davey Award 2023

Sports: Leveling the Playing Field explores the contributions of athletes, both on and off the field. Some athletes have been symbolic figures of Black ability, while others have taken their activism beyond the court to the courtroom, boardroom and the newsroom.

Damion Thomas, Sports Curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, dives into the significance of African American athletes both on and off the playing field.

About the Exhibition

  • When: Ongoing
  • Where: Level 3 (L3), Community Galleries
Reserve Passes

Because sports were among the first, and most high profile spaces to accept African Americans on relative terms of equality, sport has had a unique role within American culture. Within black communities, sports have always been political. From the refusal to allow African Americans an opportunity to compete to the formation of African American segregated sporting teams and leagues; from the hard won battles to compete at the highest levels of the game to the introduction of African American expressive cultural practices within the games, the African American presence in sports has had social and political consequences.

The Negro In Sports by Edwin Bancroft Henderson 1939

The Negro In Sports by Edwin Bancroft Henderson 1939

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

 

Journey Through the Exhibition

Sports Storylines

 

A Closer Look

Legacy of a Moment

John Carlos, Olympic Bronze Medalist and Damion Thomas, Curator of Sports, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture join The Atlantic's Jemele Hill for a conversation looking at the legacy of a moment.

Breaking Barriers: The Mohawk Giants 

Dr. Raymond Doswell, Vice President and Curator of the Negro League's Baseball Museum and President of the Negro League's Baseball Museum, Bob Kendrick note that without the perseverance and fortitude of the Negro League players there would not have been an outlet for Jackie Robinson to become a professional athlete.

 

Exhibition Luminaries

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (1942—2016), born Cassius Marcellus Clay, is frequently identified as the greatest athlete of the 20th century because of his boxing prowess and social impact. His fights frequently had political and social implications because of his social activism, conversion to Islam, and criticism of U.S. foreign policy. In 1967 Muhammad Ali refused induction into the military for religious reasons. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
Explore More

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe (1943–1993) won three Grand Slam championships. As the first African American male to win a major tennis tournament, Ashe was a pioneer in professional tennis, one of the most elite, exclusive sports in the world. And he was the rare athlete who was perhaps better known for his social activism than his athletic skills. (Photo by John Minihan/Express/Getty Images)
Explore More

Jim Brown

Jim Brown is the rare athlete that has been elected to Halls of Fame in two different sports: the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1964 he made his acting debut in the film Rio Conchos and became one of the first mainstream black action-film stars. (Photo by Albert Chau/FilmMagic)
Explore More

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson (1878–1946) was the first African American heavyweight-boxing champion. He won the title in 1908, after years of being denied a shot at the title despite being a top contender. Johnson started fighting as a competitor in battles royale, a brutal form of group boxing designed to suggest that African Americans could not compete at the highest levels of the sport. Johnson disproved those theories and one of the sport’s greatest heavyweight champions. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
Explore More

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan (b. 1963) is one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports. Jordan won the National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player Award five times and led his team to six NBA championships. He helped transform the NBA from a niche American game in the 1980s to an international sports and entertainment giant. Off the court, Jordan capitalized on his athletic achievements to start a multifaceted business career. (Photo by Jordan Brand via Getty Images)
Explore More

Joe Louis

Joe Louis (1914–1981) was a greater hero to African Americans than any other boxer of his time. His 12-year reign as heavyweight boxing champion remains the longest in the sport’s history. Louis became the public face of African American attempts to integrate into the American mainstream during the 1930s and 1940s. (Photo by Getty Images)
Explore More

Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens (1912–1980) won four gold medals in track and field in a historic performance at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. After the Olympics, Owens refused to take part in a tour organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and was barred from competition. High-paying endorsement deals were rare for African American athletes at the time, and Owens struggled to make a living. Still, he extolled the virtue of sports as a path toward social change. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Explore More

Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Rudolph (1940–1994) won three gold medals as a sprinter at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Her achievement is even more remarkable given the obstacles that she had to overcome: infantile paralysis, segregated medical treatment, and teenaged pregnancy. Rudolph’s success made her one of the most celebrated female athletes in history and helped raise the profile of women’s track and field in the United States. (Photo via Bettman/Getty Images)
Explore More

Serena and Venus Williams

Serena (left) and Venus (right) Williams are among the most dominant women’s tennis players in history. The sisters did not hone their skills at exclusive tennis academies; they learned the game on public courts in Compton, California. Their aggressive and intimidating style of play made the tennis establishment uncomfortable. Their rejection of the game’s insular and exclusionary culture has extended their fan base far beyond the tennis court. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Explore More

Exhibition Objects

Wightman Cup blazer worn by Althea Gibson, 1957

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

Game Football awarded to Ethan Horton, 1989s gam

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

“Esquire” Vol. 69, No. 4, April 1968

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

Atlanta Braves jersey autographed by Hank Aaron,1968–69

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

Track suit worn by Chandra Cheeseborough, 1977.

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Chandra D. Cheeseborough
View Object

Wool sweater for the Eastern Colored League, 1923–28

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
View Object

Olympic swim suit used by Simone Manuel at 2016 Olympics

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Simone Ashley Manuel
View Object