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SAVE THE DATE: JAN. 15, 2007

 6TH Annual
“Keep The Dream Alive”
MLK Day Dinner Celebration

  • Monday, January 15, 2007 (MLK Holiday) 
    at the Radisson Hotel, Center of NH, Manchester, NH

    5:30 pm Social time   
    6:00pm Dinner served/ program begins

  • Keynote speaker: TO BE ANNOUNCED

PDF - Corporate Sponsor Form Corporate Sponsor Form and Info


Roy Campanella (left) and Don Newcombe (right) at Nashua's Holman Stadium, 1946. As members of the Nashua Dodgers, Campanella and Newcombe were the first professional, African-American baseball players to compete on a racially integrated U.S. team in the 20th century. The New Hampshire Historical Society's spring/summer 1998 issue of its magazine, Historical New Hampshire, features an in-depth article on baseball integration and the 1946 Nashua Dodgers by Scott C. Roper and Stephanie Abbot Roper. The publication is available for purchase at the Museum of New Hampshire History and through the Society's online museum store. Historical New Hampshire cover image courtesy of the Boston Globe.

 

Don Newcombe diversity dinner speaker Jan. 16
By  KEVIN GRAY Staff Sports Writer, Union Leader Staff
DATE: October 6, 2005

"Legends of Diversity" will be the theme for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day Dinner held in Manchester on Jan. 16.

Featured speaker Don Newcombe is not only a baseball legend, he also played right here in New Hampshire where he helped break down the game's racial barriers.

In 1946, Newcombe and catcher Roy Campanella became the first African Americans to play affiliated pro baseball in the U.S. when they joined the Nashua Dodgers.

Newcombe, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, is the only pitcher to ever win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award and MVP Award as a member of the Dodgers.

He'll reflect on those minor-league days in Nashua when he speaks at the fifth annual dinner, held at the Radisson Hotel, presented by the New Hampshire Cultural Diversity Awareness Council.

Wayne Jennings, founder of the council, received confirmation yesterday that Newcombe would be attending. A 149-game winner and civil rights activist who marched with Dr. King, Newcombe will be presented with the second "Keeping the Dream Alive Award," presented to an individual who's made a national contribution toward promoting diversity or civil rights in the spirit of Dr. King.

President George W. Bush last year was the first recipient of the "Keeping the Dream Alive" award.

The 79-year-old Newcombe was recently honored at Dodger Stadium during the 50th reunion of the championship Brooklyn Dodgers team. Newcombe told the Los Angeles Times he's still bitter about the racism and torment he and his teammates suffered through.

"I still am bitter to a large degree, but then I think about what Jackie Robinson once told me," he said. "He said, 'You've got to change one letter in that word. Change the 'I' to an 'e.' Forget about bitter, try to make things better.'"
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