University Park, Pa. — To celebrate Black History Month, the Penn State All-Sports Museum will present "Breaking Barriers: The Story and Legacy of African-American Athletes at Penn State" and will welcome several accomplished speakers to talk about Penn State Athletics' rich African-American history. All programming for the series will be held in The Clemens Family Theatre at the All-Sports Museum.
In 1899, 44 years after Penn State was founded, Calvin Walker became the first African-American to enroll at the University. Just four years after Walker's graduation, in 1909, Cumberland Posey Jr. became the first African-American to compete in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the 1910-11 men's basketball team. Posey went on to become owner/player for the famed Leondi Club, an independent basketball team, and found the Homestead Grays, a star team in the Negro Baseball League. The All-Sports Museum would like you to join them along with speaker, Diana Kenepp, on Feb. 6 at noon as Kenepp talks about the time-line of Penn State's famous "firsts."
The museum will host speaker Wally Triplett at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, and 12:10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13. Triplett is one of two 1946 Penn State football players who were asked to stay at home from an away game at the request of Miami due to the color of their skin. Penn State would cancel the game and go on to break notable color barriers throughout the country.
To conclude the month's events and wrap up the series, the All-Sports Museum will hold an informal forum at noon on Feb. 20. The panel will consist of Warren Coleman (track & field), Don Ferrell (basketball/bowling/football) and Bob White (football). The panel will discuss its experiences as the journey of equality progressed after the civil rights movement through to the present.