The power of sports has many applications. Sports unite people, teach values, and inspire hope and pride. In the United States, sports have powered efforts to bring people together, shape them, and project a vision of what it means to be American. But sports convey power to athletes, too: the power to break social barriers and protest injustice. “All American” explores the power of sports both to embody our national ideals and challenge us to live up to them.
This 3,000-square-foot exhibit is on display in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum. Highlights include original sports equipment and jerseys given by star athletes to presidents, early 20th-century tobacco baseball cards, trophies, rare pictures, film footage, patents, and more.