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The House of Representatives has unanimously approved a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Major League Baseball (MLB) player Larry Doby.

Doby was the second African American in the MLB, breaking the racial barrier just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson entered the National League, making Doby the first African American in the American League. Doby was first discovered at Hinchliffe Stadium in Patterson, New Jersey playing for Eastside High School, where he was a four-sport athlete.

At the time Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1947, there was no interleague play, thus making Doby the first African American major league baseball player American League cities would have seen.

Doby faced harsh discrimination and abuse—being forced to eat at separate restaurants and sleep at separate hotels when traveling with the Indians. Doby’s achievements, both athletically and socially, are often overshadowed by Robinson’s—who quickly became a national icon. A 2016 New York Times article helped to shed light on Doby’s largely untold story, who helped lead the Cleveland Indians to a World Series title in 1948, as well as being the first African American to hit a home run in a World Series game.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it must pass by a two-thirds vote. Congress has only ever approved issuing the Congressional Gold Medal 166 times—the first being to George Washington in 1776.

To read more about Larry Doby and the Congressional Gold Medal, see the full article here.

Eighty-five years after it was built, Hinchliffe Stadium is on its way to becoming a field of dreams once again. The effort to return the historic ballfield to its former glory was in full swing in Paterson, New Jersey, on Tuesday, August 29.

Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres, Congressman Bill Pascrell, and other dignitaries hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the first phase of construction to rehabilitate the historic ballfield, which included a $300,00 grant from American Express to restore the ticket booths.

The initial work will include restoration of the front of the stadium including its facade, ticket windows, terracotta tiles and entrance gates. It will also include the restoration of four cast concrete stadium signs.

A recent New York Times article delved into the story of the Cleveland Indians baseball team in 1948, and their approach to integration as well as the role it played in their championship success.

Not long after Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bill Veeck, owner of the Cleveland Indians, signed Larry Doby to the team, making him the first black player in the American League and the second black player in the Major League. The same year he was signed, Doby helped lead the Indians to victory in the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves. This triumph made him and his teammate Satchel Paige, the first black players to help win a major league championship—7 years before Jackie Robinson clenched the title in 1955.

Before being signed by the Indians, Doby played for the Newark Eagles in the Negro League at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. A Paterson native, he was a rising star in the Negro leagues and “had fond memories of those times” according to his son, Larry Doby Jr.

To read more about Larry Doby and the 1948 Cleveland Indians team, see the full article here.

American Express recently awarded Hinchliffe Stadium a $300,000 grant to restore two historic ticket booths at the front door of the stadium. The project is scheduled to start this fall. In June, the Paterson Board of Education awarded a contract to the company Retail & Development Strategies to conduct a comprehensive market analysis and feasibility study of the stadium. This study is funded by a $197,000 federal grant secured by the late New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, and is slated to be completed by December 2015. It will identify long-term revenue uses to support preservation and maintenance. Currently, the stadium’s primary use is as a school sports facility, but the Board of Education is attempting to evaluate ways to make money from other community uses. They also hope that this will attract private investment from commercial developers, who would enter into a long-term lease agreement with the schools and city to operate the site.

Check out the latest news coverage regarding the Hinchliffe Stadium restoration!

North Jersey: Paterson Mayor Sets Bold Goal of Finishing Hinchliffe Stadium Restoration in Three Years

Preservation New Jersey recently announced their list of top 10 endangered historic places and included Hinchliffe Stadium under the ‘Historic sites Hurt by Lack of Public Funding,’ listing.

From the article –

Historic sites hurt by lack of public funding — In November, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution dedicating funds from the corporate business tax to preserve open space, farmland and historic resources. Gov. Chris Christie's budget announced in February recommends $1.4 million for the New Jersey Historic Trust, which preservationists say is not enough to sustain and staff the grant program.

Sites most threatened by a lack of public funding include the Ewing Presbyterian Church, also known as the 1867 Sanctuary at Ewing, the Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, one of three existing stadiums associated with the Negro League baseball games, and the 1759 Vought House in Clinton.

Check out the full listing, here.