The dual-language (English and Spanish) !PLEIBOL! takes readers on a journey into the heart and history of U.S. Latina/o baseball. The extraordinary stories of Latinas/os, alongside the artifacts of their remarkable lives, demonstrate the historic role baseball has played as a social and cultural force within Latino communities across the USA for over a century and how Latinos, in particular, have influenced and changed the game. Latinas/os have celebrated a shared cultural heritage, made a living and fought for rights and justice through baseball. These stories represent experiences to which many people can relate: how one becomes part of a community; how the game can bring people together regardless of race, class and gender and how fans can participate in the culture of the sport as easily as players can on the field. Through eight thematic chapters, the authors illustrate how baseball has provided an important platform from which to celebrate and challenge what it means to be American. Each chapter features stories and artifacts from the Smithsonian exhibits of the same name paired with voices from the community of scholars, players and enthusiasts who have contributed to the larger pan-Smithsonian Latinos and Baseball collecting and exhibition initiative. The variety of stories and objects included in this volume brings seemingly disparate pasts and present together to reveal how baseball is more than simply a game. The history of Latinos and baseball is this quintessential American story.

Many Voices, One Nation explores U.S. history through a powerful collection of artifacts and stories from America's many peoples. Sixteen essays, composed by Smithsonian curators and affiliated scholars, offer distinctive insight into the peopling of the United States from the Europeans' North American arrival in 1492 to the near present. Each chapter addresses a different historical era and considers what quintessentially American ideals like freedom, equality, and belonging have meant to Americans of all backgrounds, races, and national origins through the centuries. Much more than just an anthology, this book is a vibrant, cohesive presentation of everyday objects and ideas that connect us to our history and to one another. Using these objects and personal stories as a transmitter, the book invites readers to hear the voices of our many voices, and contemplate the complexity of our one nation. The stories and artifacts included in this volume bring our seemingly disparate pasts together to inspire possibilities for a shared future as we constantly reinterpret our e pluribus unum - our nation of many voices.