The rebirth of Hinchliffe Stadium is a victory for Paterson
My husband and I possess a passion for history and civil rights. We've had the opportunity to travel to the most powerful civil rights museums around the country. Knowing what we know about Paterson, we felt compelled to figure out how our city's civil rights stories get told. It's a point of pride to live in Paterson, where we have one of only two stadiums still standing that hosted Negro League games. We appreciate the brave baseball players who took the field and played in those games and ultimately helped break barriers.
In 2009, we took a trip to Birmingham, Alabama to visit Rickwood Field, the other stadium still standing in this country that hosted Negro League games. During this fact-finding mission, we met with city officials in hopes of learning how we could bring Hinchliffe Stadium back to life based on what they were doing in Birmingham. The next year, my husband ran for mayor and one of his objectives was to revitalize Hinchliffe Stadium. Unfortunately, he lost that election, but he was undeterred. He ran again four years later but sadly, it was the same result. A swing and a miss — again. In 2018, he decided to step up to the plate for Paterson and ran for mayor a third time. Thankfully, the third time was the charm.
In addition to pledging to restore credibility and integrity to City Hall, he also promised to address the historic ballpark that had been fallow for over two decades.
He applied the same determination that he demonstrated in attempting to become mayor to resurrecting our field of dreams despite failed attempts by previous administrations as well as some pushback in 2018. Now his resolve is being rewarded. By no means has he done this alone, in fact it has been a total team effort. As the team leader, my husband has been able to work with federal, state, county, and nonprofit partners to make this miracle manifest.
I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the relentless developer of this monumental project, Baye Adofo-Wilson. He is a native Patersonian who has come back home to rebuild a relic. The stadium will once again be the site where high school students will receive their diplomas and where Eastside will take on Kennedy in the traditional Turkey Bowl football game on Thanksgiving. Moreover, it will be where schoolchildren will take field trips and have field days. And the students overlooking the ballpark at School 5 no longer have to view the graffiti, garbage and weeds of a dilapidated stadium. Many of those who played sports at Hinchliffe ultimately found a path for college scholarships — we look forward to those opportunities expanding for our youth as well.
A museum will be a part of the project and after visiting with Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro League Baseball Museum last month, Paterson’s museum will serve as the northeast satellite for the one in Kansas City. This museum will allow us to tell the story of the struggle for social justice and American integration. There’s an old saying that goes, “happy wife, happy life.” Well, what makes me happy is that my husband never relented and as a result the rebirth of Hinchliffe Stadium is real this week. This is a victory for history.
Farhanna Sayegh is first lady of the city of Paterson.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ Hinchliffe Stadium restoration a victory
