Join the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum on Saturday, April 29, for a day of baseball fun! Swing into the 2023 baseball season with the National Postal Museum’s family festival highlighting the exhibit “Baseball: America’s Home Run.”
The exhibition explores our national pastime through a unique, postal lens. Using material from the National Postal Museum’s collection; original stamp art from the United States Postal Service; and artifacts loaned by other Smithsonian museums, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and private collectors, this exhibition explores the surprising ways that baseball and postal history have been deeply intertwined since the early twentieth century.
The Baseball Family Festival will offer fun for all ages with activity stations, crafts, music and virtual author readings. In-person American Sign Language interpretation will be provided for the author readings.
Festival Activities:
- Baseball Bingo: Check off the activities you complete on a bingo card in the event program. Claim a prize for completing any row of three! (Prizes available while supplies last.)
- Play Ball: Practice pitching, batting and running the bases in the Historic Lobby using plastic bats and beach balls.
- Baseball Stamp Puzzles: Flex your puzzles skills with postage stamp puzzles of famous baseball players in varying levels of difficulty.
- Baseball Sewing Activity: Do a baseball craft by sewing together two small paper plates with yarn. Decorate your baseball when you’re done!
- Make Your Own Pennant/Stamp: Get creative and design your own postage stamp and sports pennant. Find inspiration in the examples provided that highlight baseball history.
- Tattoos & Trivia: Display your baseball pride with a temporary tattoo and test your baseball knowledge with a trivia game.
- Book Corner: Explore baseball history with a wide variety of baseball-themed children’s books.
Festival Schedule:
- 11 a.m.-4 p.m.: NPM and event partners provide a variety of activities throughout the museum (details below). A playlist of baseball-related songs will be played in the Atrium.
- 1-1:45 p.m.: Book reading and author Q & A (virtual, held in Discovery, facilitated by museum staff). Barb Rosenstock will read her book “The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio became America’s Hero” and answer audience questions.
- 3-3:45 p.m.: Book reading and author Q & A (virtual, held in Discovery, facilitated by museum staff) Rob Skead will read his book “Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe DiMaggio” and answer audience questions.
Baseball Activity Guide: Pick up a copy of our bilingual baseball activity guide, which includes both in-gallery and at-home activities.
Event Partner Activities:
The National Postal Museum is excited to have Smithsonian partners joining us to offer these activities –
National Museum of American History: Explore the role that Latinos have played in the history of baseball with hands-on crafts and real objects from the National Museum of American History’s exhibit Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues/En los barrios y las grandes ligas.
National Portrait Gallery: Try on baseball uniform pieces and pose like a baseball player. Get an instant photo taken and use the photo to make a baseball trading card.
While you are attending the Baseball Family Festival, be sure to visit the Baseball: America’s Home Run exhibition to see historic objects loaned from renowned private collections that have never before been on public display. These rare artifacts – exclusively shared with the public as part of the exhibition – showcase a treasure trove of historically significant game-worn uniforms, jackets, hats, game-used bats and memorabilia from America’s pastime. Artifacts from the stars of the major leagues ensure that this exhibition is a must-visit for anyone who loves the game.
