Friend of Rickwood left to right: Mike Newton, Coke Mathews, Sam Fisher, Ben Cook, Lamar Smith, and Gerald Watkins. Not pictured but in attendance, Tom Cosby
But before that 1993 certification, Tom Cosby, Terry Slaughter, and Coke Mathews recognized the importance of the ballpark, and led fundraising efforts which ultimately led to Birmingham Historical Society’s involvement in the HABS documentation. It’s a preservation success story that put Birmingham on the map, bringing its first Major League Baseball game to Rickwood in 2024. (View all the drawings and documentation at the Library of Congress HERE at HABS AL-897)
Gerald Watkins shared not only his enthusiasm for the sport, and the struggles in maintaining the park, but also the ongoing support that will be necessary to sustain it. Want to help? Attend an event! Or contribute to its support HERE
photos by Louise McPhillips
Friends of RickwoodHABS AL-897 posterBooks available about Rickwood FieldCarolanne Roberts, with winners of Chocolate Cake contestGerald Watkins, Director of Friends of RickwoodTom Cosby, early supporter of fundraising to preserve Rickwoood fieldWayne Hester, President Birmingham Historical SocietyMarjorie White, Director Birmingham Historical SocietyTrustees Carol Slaughter and Kaydee Erdreich
Do you know the compelling history of America’s oldest ball field? Last night at Birmingham Historical Society’s annual meeting, baseball enthusiast and Friends of Rickwood Director, Gerald Watkins, powerfully recounted the legendary games played on this iconic ground. He also recounted many of the famous players that began their careers on this historic ball field including Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, and Reggie Jackson.
He acknowledged the important part the Society contributed to Rickwood in documenting the age, historical significance, and in verifying the anecdotal stories that the Friends of Rickwood had been using to raise funds for its restoration. Upon the completion of the research, Rickwood was officially confirmed to be the oldest ball park in the nation, and national leagues began to take interest, resulting in Alabama’s first Major League Baseball game in 2024.
Friends of Rickwood Director Gerald Watkins with Birmingham Historical Society Director Marjorie White hold a poster documenting the process of establishing Rickwood’s significance through the National Park Service’s Historic America Buidlings Survey (HABS)
Watkins recounted the struggles the Friends endured in preparing the field for the Major Leagues as well as the fundraising necessary for maintaining the standards required to sustain the relationship. And he acknowledged the Friends who were in the audience including Tom Cosby who along with Terry Slaughter and Coke Mathews led the early promotional efforts.
Erected in 1910, Rickwood Field stands as a monument not just to thrilling baseball moments, but also to the profound social and cultural evolution of the sport. The Birmingham Black Barons began playing in 1920 in the Negro Leagues, and Rickwood served as a gathering place for Birmingham’s black community attracting large crowds until integration caused the Black Barons to dissolve in 1963 and Rickwood shut down for several years.
Several books have been written about Rickwood’s history which were available at the meeting including this tribute book above. Watkins shared that while the Friends hoped that Birmingham native Willie Mays would be at Rickwood’s first Major League game in 2024, he passed that same day, memorializing him forever in Rickwood’s memories.
These three books, companions to one another, celebrate Rickwood Field, the primary ball park of Birmingham professional baseball teams from 1910 to 1987. Each book is a building block in a trilogy on the history of the legendary ball park. Each book stands alone, complete within itself, but together they form a structure larger than its parts: a trilogy.
The three books tell the story of people, places, and events of the early twentieth century and make you feel a part of history, not an observer of it. The books explore world events, American history, and the game of baseball when it was — and perhaps still is — this country’s most culturally relevant sport.
.For more information or to arrange a behinds the scenes tour of the historic ball field, please visit Rickwood Field or visit the park for a self-guided tour M-F 9AM to 4PM.
“Sad thing is, you’d be surprised how many folks in Birmingham have never heard of Rickwood Field….Tell everyone you know to come visit us.”
Birmingham Historical Society board member Tom Cosby reminds us that just as the Friends of Rickwood were getting started 30 years ago, the Birmingham Historical Society, through the efforts of Marjorie White, got HABS/HAER (the Historic American Building Survey and the Historic American Engineering Record) to visit Birmingham and fully document the unassailable fact that Rickwood Field was, indeed, the oldest baseball park in America.
Local artist Terry Slaughter took those measured HABS drawings, colored them, and turned them into the promotional rendering that kick started the preservation of Rickwood. And with those efforts, the Friends of Rickwood have been able to effectively raise just enough money to help save (so far) this ancient and historic ballpark — a ballpark where such American legends as Willie Mays, Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson once played.
So we’re repeating the words of Randy, as recorded by Sean Dietrich:
“The best thing anyone can do is tell your friends about this place. Don’t let history die. Tell everyone you know to come visit us.”
