AT&T Steps to the Plate to Support The Baseball Hall of Fame

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(COOPERSTOWN, NY) - The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, has been awarded a $250,000, multi-level grant from the AT&T Foundation, the corporate philanthropy organization of AT&T. The grant will provide support to the not-for-profit Museum to further its educational mission.

The AT&T grant will be used to help underwrite two permanent exhibitions in Cooperstown; allow for point-to-point videoconferencing with schools across America from those exhibits; provide for five regional professional development workshops for educators; and assist in allowing the Museum's highly-acclaimed national touring exhibition, Baseball As America, to visit the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Tex. this fall.

"We're thrilled to team with the AT&T Foundation, which values education as much as we do," said Dale Petroskey, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "The Foundation's grant allows us to expand our educational outreach, both for visitors inside our museum, and for many outside Cooperstown. Baseball and AT&T practically grew up together -- AT&T began in 1875 when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and the National League was established a year later, in 1876. The Hall of Fame and AT&T share a passion for excellence, and this relationship fits like a hand in glove."

In Cooperstown, the AT&T grant will help offset costs for recent upgrades of two keystone exhibitions: Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience and Diamond Dreams: Women in Baseball. Both exhibits incorporate new artifacts and stories, and thanks to support from AT&T , videoconferences can now be delivered to schools across the country from both locations. Curriculum for both topics has been developed by area educators, and videoconferences are delivered daily.

Additionally, with the support of the AT&T Foundation, experienced Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum educators will lead five professional development workshops for teachers in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio, and San Francisco. The American Federation of Teachers, a current partner of the Hall of Fame, will co-host the workshops, which will train teachers to blend baseball history and American culture into interactive lessons for students.

"This project will give visitors to the Baseball Hall of Fame a unique and educational experience on a central piece of U.S. history," said Laura Sanford, president of the AT&T Foundation. "The permanent exhibits, workshops, and touring exhibition will be an educational asset that will benefit not only Cooperstown visitors but also students across the nation. AT&T is proud to support these efforts."

The final portion AT&T's grant will assist in bringing Baseball As America, the Hall of Fame's highly-successful touring exhibition, to the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas from September 28, 2007 - January 13, 2008. The exhibition, sponsored nationally by Ernst & Young LLP., has drawn in excess of 2.1 million visitors though the first 12 tour stops.

The newly-redesigned Diamond Dreams: Women in Baseball exhibit opened May 14, 2006. Supporters, in addition to AT&T , include The Yawkey Foundation (in memory of Mildred Cronin).

Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience was rededicated on April 15, 2006. In addition to AT&T, supporters include Jay and Patty Baker, David Weinstein and Barry and Joni Butzow.