An upcoming pop-up at Eastern State Penitentiary will give visitors a look at the games once played on the former prison's grounds.
"Spring Break: Sports & Recreation" examines the importance of team activities and other diversions to the inmates who once lived on the site. Baseball, football, volleyball, dominos, checkers, chess and card games were just some of the morale-boosting games offered when the prison was active.
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Eastern State Penitentiary will showcase athletic equipment, crafts and historic photos from its collection and offer thematic activities each day of the pop-up, running April 11-20. It will be the second year of the spring programming, which launched in March 2024.
Kids will get a crack at the bat each day at 3 p.m. That's when tour guides will lead groups around the penitentiary's baseball field, offering insight into the league that played there. After the talk concludes, visitors can try to hit a wiffle ball over the perimeter.
Another daily discussion is centered on Charles "Jack" Blackburn, a boxer incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary. Blackburn, who befriended and trained heavyweight champion Joe Louis, arrived at the prison in 1909 after being sentenced to 15 years for murder. He was ultimately released about a decade early, but during his time at Eastern State Penitentiary, he led his baseball team on the Ninth Block to multiple championships.
The museum will wind down the pop-up with sports-themed trivia — with prizes — at its central rotunda on Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m.
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