Dirt on Their Skirts

Accompanying learning activities and resources are directed towards:
Grades 7-12 History, Math, Language Arts


This electronic field trip looks at pioneering women baseball players, owners, umpires and teams from as early as 1866, all the way up to present day women playing and working in baseball. The common thread running through the stories we examine is the efforts of women and girls to be a part of America's national pastime: baseball.

Many Americans are surprised to learn that women once played professional baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), from 1943-1954. Founded by Chicago Cubs owner Phil Wrigley as a method to entertain Americans and keep ball parks full during World War II, the league provided an unprecedented opportunity for young women to play professional baseball, see the country, and aspire to careers beyond the traditional female roles of teacher, secretary, nurse, librarian, or housewife.

Organized with the full cooperation and participation of the AAGPBL's Players Association, nine players from the AAGPBL participated in the program. Julie Croteau, former Colorado Silver Bullets player and Phil Niekro, Hall of Famer and manager of the Colorado Silver Bullets, will host the program with Tim Wiles and Jeff Arnett from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.


We hope you enjoy this unique opportunity as the Apple Learning Interchange hosts a Ball State Electronic Field Trip for students, with the content experts from the Baseball Hall of Fame. From our collaboration page, students were able to post their questions and have them answered online by guest experts. While the forum is not being monitored now, you may learn from the interaction that took place.