Join Professor of History Phil Lucas for a two-day alumni course at the newly opened McLennan Center, located in the heart of Wrigleyville. The course will include lecture and discussion (no tests) and will culminate in – what else? – a baseball game! See the Cubs vs. the White Sox at Wrigley Field.
Space is limited and registration is restricted to Cornell College alumni and parents.
Cost: $175. Game ticket included in price.
Register by May 23, 2013. Space limited to 20 participants.
Daily Schedule (subject to change):
Thursday, May 30
| 9-10:30 a.m.
| Class at McLennan Center
| 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
| Reception with Cornell College Club of Chicago
| 1:20 p.m.
| Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field
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Friday, May 31
| 9 a.m. - noon
| Class at McLennan Center
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Not able to register for the mini-course, but interested in attending the game and pregame Reception at the McLennan Center? You can! Click Here for more details, and to purchase extra game tickets.
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A History of Baseball
One summer day in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York, West Point cadet Abner Doubleday knelt down in a dusty field and drew up a new game for the neighborhood kids to play. Or maybe he didn’t. Whatever the truth of that famous story, the question remains – why did that game become the national pastime by the end of the century and through most of the twentieth century? How did baseball evolve and why did it take the shape that it did?
The history of baseball reflects important trends in American history. Rather than focusing on Willie Mays’ batting average in 1954 (.345) or the virtues of the designated hitter (there are none), “A History of Baseball” will touch on topics such as the appeal of baseball to people in mid-nineteenth century America, the emergence of professional baseball, baseball and the rise of big business, baseball and integration, and baseball and the law. Chicago has witnessed some important developments in baseball. One of the founding members of the National League was the Chicago White Stockings. One of the founding members of the American League was the Chicago White Stockings. We will see how that was possible.
 Phil Lucas
Professor of History at Cornell College, joined the faculty in 1984 and teaches courses in American History from the colonial period to Reconstruction. He has written articles on topics including antebellum Mississippi politics, the pre-presidential career of Martin Van Buren, politics during the Civil War, a legal case between Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Oakland Athletics owner Charley Finley, and is working on a study of civil liberties in the North during the Civil War. Frequently seen donning his hallmark Converse sneakers, Professor Lucas has gained popularity among students for a course in the history of baseball that he has taught since the mid-1990s. Professor Lucas earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and doctorate from Cornell University.
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