The Downtown YMCA and the Springfield African American History Museum partnered to present a special program to the kids in the Y’s afterschool program on Thursday.

Museum Director, Nola Mitchell, stopped by with a portion of the museum’s traveling exhibit spotlighting the Negro League in Central Illinois.

The children were able to watch an Emmy-award winning short film about the Negro Leagues and then got to talk about it afterward.

They also did some coloring pages about Negro ballplayers.

Director Mitchell told the kids baseball legend, Satchell Paige, once served as the VP of the Springfield Minor League team, The Redbirds.

The program is part of the YMCAs ongoing programs highlighting Black History Month in February.