Breaking the Colour Barrier, a joint project by the University of Windsor and the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame, documents the life of Wilfred (Boomer) Harding and the other members of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars baseball team. They were the first Black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association provincial championship in 1934.
Chatham-Kent Public Library is pleased to host a display on the project during February in recognition of Black History Month. There will also be a presentation on Wednesday, February 7 at 7 pm at the Chatham Branch, 120 Queen St. Chatham. Dr. Heidi Jacobs and Dr. Miriam Wright from the University of Windsor, lead researchers on the project, will speak. Everyone is welcome.
The project is based on scrapbooks compiled by Boomer Harding’s family which have been digitized and oral histories of family and friends have been added. The resulting digital archive preserves an important part of Canadian history. In Dr. Wright’s words, “This is a story that helps to enrich our understanding of the past and gives us insights into the continuing challenges in the present.”