Join the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and our partners at Huston-Tillotson University for an unforgettable night in East Austin at historic Downs Field. Located in historic East Austin, it has served as a cornerstone of Austin’s Black sports community for nearly a century.
Originally built in the 1920s as Samuel Huston College Baseball Stadium, Downs Field was also home to the Austin Black Senators of the Negro Leagues. In the 1940s and ’50s, L.C. Anderson High School, the only high school for Black students in Austin at the time, held football games at this location, even winning the State Championship in 1942. Over the years, teams like the Austin Black Pioneers, L.C. Anderson High School, and various Black semiprofessional and recreational teams, including the Greyhounds and the Indians, have played here. Today, the Huston-Tillotson Rams, representing Austin’s only historically Black university, compete on the field every spring.
In the past decade, PARD has partnered with various organizations to activate Downs Field, immerse the community in its rich history, and build an innovative partnership with Huston-Tillotson University. Join us to learn more about how an authentic sense of place is achieved when we recognize and celebrate the historic sites as well as the people and stories that make Austin unlike anywhere else. Following the presentation, enjoy a screening of “The League,” an award-winning 2023 documentary that highlights the triumphs and challenges of Negro League baseball in the first half of the twentieth century. You won’t want to miss this unforgettable event!