The Fort Wayne Daisies are a treasured part of our city’s history, and a new monument is being built in their former home at Memorial Park to commemorate their part of the popularity of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In November, two events will highlight their legacy as well as the 30th anniversary of the iconic film, A League of Their Own. The first event takes place at the Fort Wayne History Center on Sunday, November 6 at 2 p.m. with a free lecture featuring Kristie Erickson, who speaks about the “First in Their Field: The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.” Below is a description of that event and the speaker.
The following Sunday, November 13, Fort Wayne Currents hosts a screening of A League of Their Own with a special prerecorded appearance by Kelly Candaele, producer of the documentary A League of Their Own which inspired the film. His mother and aunt – the Callaghan sisters – both played for the Fort Wayne Daisies. His brother Casey played in the major leagues and is currently the manager of the minor league Buffalo Bisons. Casey and his mother Helen were the only mother/son to play professional baseball. Join us at the Allen County Public Library’s downtown auditorium for the event which begins at 1 p.m.
From the History Center…
The women who made up the AAGPBL were pioneers in sports–yet played for the love of the game. The League was formed following a shortage of male players after the entrance of the United States into World War II. In the mid-sized towns of the Midwest, there was significant support for the 14 teams that were part of the League. These spanned from Michigan to Minnesota, with two teams in Indiana – the Fort Wayne Daisies and South Bend Blue Sox. Hear stories, see photos, and honor the inspiring legacy of these women who played hardball at the highest level.
Kristie Erickson is the Deputy Executive Director at The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana. She holds a Master of Arts in Archaeological Studies from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Purdue University. In addition to her responsibilities as Deputy Executive Director, Kristie oversees the Collections, Exhibits, and Education departments at The History Museum. The History Museum is the national repository for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, with artifacts including photographs, programs, film footage, scrapbooks and playing equipment used by the teams.
Kelly Candaele has had a diverse career as writer, filmmaker, professor and elected official in Los Angeles. Candaele has written extensively for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Nation magazine and other national publications. He traveled to Ireland three times when President Bill Clinton was pushing the Northern Ireland peace process forward. His journalistic work has focused primarily on the conflict in Northern Ireland, Los Angeles political developments, history, culture and baseball. In addition to Northern Ireland he has worked as a journalist in Great Britain, Brazil, Sweden, Cuba, Spain, Australia and Vietnam. Mr. Candaele has lectured at Hebrew University in Jerusalem about the conflict in Northern Ireland, and at a number of other colleges and universities.
Candaele has produced and directed a number of documentary films. His documentary film A League of Their Own, about his mother’s years as a professional baseball player in the 1940s, was awarded an Area Emmy as part of a public television series. He wrote the story for the Columbia Pictures feature film about the women’s league which stared Tom Hanks and Madonna. His brother Casey played for parts of ten years in the major leagues coming up with Montreal and also playing for Houston and Cleveland.
Thank you to Fort Wayne History Center and Allen County Public Library for their help in hosting this recognition to the Fort Wayne Daisies!
Helen Callaghan
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