LATTC and Baseball Reliquary Team-up for Exhibit
Baseball fans have a unique opportunity to view a collection of the sport's memorabilia. The Library & Learning Resource Center of Los Angeles Trade Tech College is the site of the exhibit, From the Barrios to the Big Leagues, an exhibition of Mexican-American Baseball in Los Angeles. The Baseball Reliquary, a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history has brought photos, baseball cards and other artifacts to LATTC.

The exhibition, which documents and interprets the historic role that baseball has played as a cohesive element and as a social and cultural force within the Mexican-American communities of Los Angeles is currently being displayed on the first floor of the college's LRC through December 15, 2006.

The exhibition covers the history of amateur and semi-pro baseball in the barrios of East Los Angeles. Teams such as the legendary Carmelita Chorizeros are included. The story behind the displacement of the Mexican-American community in Chavez Ravine prior to the arrival of the Dodgers, which was a landmark in the contentious political and cultural history of Los Angeles , is addressed. The origins of the Dodgers' Spanish-language radio broadcasts and the impact of "Fernandomania" as an early indicator of both the demographic revolution and the cultural and political breakthroughs of Southern California 's Latino communities are among the subjects covered.

Speakers at the grand opening, October 21^st, included: LATTC President Roland "Chip" Chapdelaine, LACCD Board of Trustees member, Kelly G. Candaele, Exhibit Curator, and Executive Director of Baseball Reliquary, Inc., Terry Cannon, Tomas Benitez, Artist and Development Director, Plaza de la Raza and Francisco Balderrama, Professor, California State University, Los Angeles . Other guests included “Veteranos”, players from Mexican American Baseball Leagues such as Mr. Saul Toledo and his family, exhibit artist, Ted Duarte and author, Ken Aven, who donated a signed copy of his book, Chavez Ravine Echoes, to the LATTC Library.