We are excited to begin to turn our ol' Atlanta Black Crackers Practice Field at the Outdoor Activity Center into a historical landmark that attracts and inspires generations to come! On Wednesday, July 28, we teamed up with the Atlanta Braves, Major League Baseball, Hands On Atlanta, Delta Airlines, the City of Atlanta, and the Bush Mountain Community Organization to host a volunteer day at the Black Crackers Field in honor of Hank Aaron Weekend. With over 200 volunteers, we were able to create two new access trails leading to the Black Crackers Field from the Bush Mountain community, weed and plant in the Hartnett Community Garden, update the Outdoor Activity Center education overlook with native plants, plant a Spiller Magnolia seedling from the former Atlanta Crackers Baseball Field, and add plants and benches to the garden and Black Crackers Field. This volunteer effort also helped WAWA to secure water infrastructure at the Hartnett Community Garden, start a major clean-up of the former Hartnett Elementary School Library, and the Black Crackers Field was cleared of large stands of invasive kudzu and piles of old tires hiding underneath them.
Check out some of the coverage of the volunteer day and Black Crackers Field preservation efforts below.
Volunteers Revitalize Atlanta Black Crackers Practice Field, Bush Mountain Community (CBS)
Volunteers Pitch In At Former Practice Site Of Atlanta's Negro League Baseball Team (WABE)
Former Atlanta Black Crackers Practice Field Service Project (Braves- MLB Blog)
Braves and Major League Baseball join the effort to commemorate a Negro Leagues field (Saporta Report)
Historic Negro League Team receives well-deserved community revitalization (The Atlanta Voice)