information from SWSHS

Restoration of the art-deco underwater murals of West Seattle’s Historic Admiral Theater will get a boost this summer with a one-night screening of a documentary that showcases a project by local students to salute the black baseball barnstorming phenomenon of the early 20th century.

“Legends of the Road,” a feature-length, student-produced film, will be screened at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at the Historic Admiral Theater, 2343 California Ave. S.W., sponsored by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.

The film, which won the highest audience rating at the 2017 Kansas City Film Festival in April, will be introduced by Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and former teacher Gary Thomsen of West Seattle, who led the “Legends” project at Chief Sealth High School.

After the film, Kendrick, Thomsen and several of Thomsen’s former students will be available to answer questions. (Kendrick’s appearance is made possible, in part, by the in-kind assistance of John Coney at The Grove West Seattle Inn.)

Admission will be by $20 donation, which will go to the Historic Admiral Theater mural restoration led by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. A VIP opportunity, to see the film and visit one-on-one with the featured speakers beforehand, will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the theater. This opportunity is available by reservation at a $100 donation.

Both levels of tickets can be purchased at Far Away Entertainment, https://retrievertickets.com/rt/?theaterID=9383456&date=20170627 and at the door.

To learn more about “Legends of the Road,” visit these links:
The three-minute trailer for “Legends of the Road”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhcxQP1WMY
A four-minute segment of Bob Kendrick’s speech about “Legends of the Road” last year in West Seattle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTwqkZfTV14
To arrange phone and in-person interviews with Bob Kendrick and Gary Thomsen, contact Clay Eals of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society at 206-484-8008, clay.eals@loghousemuseum.info.

Further special events to support mural restoration at the Historic Admiral Theater will be planned down the road, as will the detailed process for seeking restoration proposals.

The historical society, which secured landmark status for the Historic Admiral Theater in 1989, will lead the effort to restore its murals. After being covered for decades, the murals were revealed earlier this year as part of the theater’s $1.7 million renovation and expansion to four screens.

‘Legends of the Road’ background
“Legends of The Road” is the deeply moving account of 28 public high-school students from Chief Sealth High School in West Seattle, Washington, who in 1999-2000 created an extraordinary project about a largely unknown baseball phenomenon known as barnstorming.

While many sports fans are familiar with the Negro Leagues, and many more with iconic players Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Buck O’Neil, few are aware of the men who traversed two countries playing the game they loved in the face of rampant prejudice and discrimination — the barnstormers.

Their journeys dispelled the notion of white supremacy on the baseball field and fostered the breakdown of racial stereotypes, leading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to say, “They laid down the first plank in the civil rights movement.”

The extensive research project culminated with the students’ re-creation of a summer-long tour of the western United States and Canada to commemorate the 100th anniversary of barnstorming. The tour was done on bicycles: 71 days, 33 games and 5,100 miles.

“Legends of the Road” offers a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes look at this heartwarming story, as told through candid, student-shot, in-your-face vérité footage. Mixing provocative classroom scenes with captivating video of the epic trip, the story is as inspiring as it is historically significant.

The film draws upon 80 hours of behind-the-scenes classroom and trip footage as the students labored to research and produce the project, 55 hours of interviews with former Negro Leagues players (and players who played against them), 11 hours of interviews with iconic Hall of Fame player Buck O’Neil and Bob Kendrick (now president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum), and 23 hours of interviews with historians.

“Legends of the Road” won the highest audience rating at the 2017 Kansas City Film Festival.