A New Way to Support the War Effort

"There's an old saying, 'Girls can't play baseball.' We proved them wrong," said Dolly Konwinski in an interview with the South Bend Tribune. Koninski played baseball for a number of teams including Battle Creek Belles, Chicago Colleens, Grand Rapids Chicks and Springfield Sallies.Over the course of 12 years, 14 women's teams started in larger cities in the Midwest, forming the All- American Girls Professional Baseballs League (AAGPBL).

                                Pictured: Mary "Bonnie" Baker of the South Bend Blue Sox

Most men joined the armed forces during World War II and sports nearly came to a halt. In a time when women in sports was unheard of, Phillip Wrigley started a women's baseball league during World War II as a means of entertainment. Ladies from around the country got out of their kitchens and supported the war effort in an entirely different way- through keeping up the hopes of the home front. 

The South Bend Blue Sox was one of the original 4 teams inducted into the AAGPBL and remained in the League until it's disbandment. Today the History Museum in South Bend, IN is the national repository for all items related to the AAGPBL. 

Sources

"AAGPBL." The History Museum. Accessed October 25, 2017. 
     http://historymuseumsb.org/research-history/aagpbl/.


Fosmoe, Margaret. "Women pro baseball players gather, reminisce in South Bend Women 
     professional baseball players gather, reminisce." South Bend Tribune, August 7, 2015. Accessed 
     October 23, 2017. https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/history/women-pro-baseball-
     players-gather-reminisce-in-south-bend/article_218cc831-cdf2-5105-8b42-d15bee181766.html.

"Photos: All-American Professional Girls Baseball League in 1945."       http://time.com/3760024/women-professional-baseball/.