National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

A Race Meeting at Jacksonville, Alabama (Proper), W. S. Hedges, British, 1831 - 1847, Birmingham Museum of Art

The First Pastime: Horse Racing in the Early 1800s

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has 29,000 items in our collection. We use those items to tell the stories of the past. You've already seen a few of those objects in the previous activities. Now, you'll have the chance to analyze these objects a little closer. In this activity, a moderator will select three objects from our collection. If you need some context, you might want to go back into the previous activities to refresh your memory. The moderator will place these objects onto a Venn diagram, and it'll be up to you to label the diagram. Once you do, you'll have the chance to defend your choice, and then the moderator will select a winner based on who had the best labels and the best explanation for them. The moderator will continue in different rounds until a winner is declared. You can play this game as individuals or as teams. The objects contain descriptions, so feel free to click on each to learn a bit more. Ready? Good luck!

Changing Times: Racing Before & After the War

How could a country founded on the principles of freedom permit the evils of slavery? Was war inevitable, or was there an alternative solution? Before diving into the course, it's important to outline the path America took to reach this point. This activity will catalogue the most important and notable events that would eventually snowball into the American Civil War. Discuss these events with your classmates, and analyze their significance on the war to come.

The Tragic Prelude: Events Leading Up to the Civil War

The Confederacy surrendered in 1865, bringing an end to the Civil War and restoring the Union. The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments banned slavery, defined citizenship, and outlawed discrimination in voting. These amendments form the bedrock of American democracy.

This escape room activity will test your knowledge of the people and horses who helped to forge America's postwar future. Click on the images, answer the questions, and find the secret code to escape the room. Good luck!

When the Dust Clears: What Remains After the War

With the Civil War's end, the face of racing changed. Freed slaves from the American South became professional equestrians in the sport. New names from the North became key players in the revitalized American racing scene, while important breeders from Kentucky continued their influence on the sport. In this slideshow, you'll find some of the colorful characters that helped to shape the future of horse racing in a reunited America. As you read, keep in mind the historical context of emancipation in a postwar America. Many of thoroughbred racing's biggest names were former slaves or the descendants of slaves, and you'll see that many of America's leading jockeys were black. Black athletes dominated the sport until Jim Crow laws gradually forced them out of racing by 1920, and the post-Civil War period was something of a "golden age" for black equestrians.

New Blood: The Key Figures of a Postwar Racing World

During the Civil War, horse racing was mostly suspended across the country, with a handful of exceptions. Horses were needed for the war effort, and some tracks were repurposed as army camps. Nevertheless, despite the hostilities, racing still continued in one form or another in certain parts of the country. However, it did mean that the sport had to adapt. Much of America's racing moved into the North and away from the frontline. Southern farms and plantations were routinely destroyed or occupied by Union forces, pushing the epicenter of racing further north. The South's stranglehold on the sport gradually vanished by the war's end, and the North became the new center of the sport. Examine this map of the United States to see some of the most notable events in horse racing during the war, and analyze how the sport adapted to the new situation. Click the circles to view different events. Colors indicate year. Purple: 1861/1862. Blue: 1863. Green: 1864. Red: 1965. Zoom in to see more.

Turf War: Horse Racing in Wartime

In the 1800s, horse racing was so popular that there were dozens if not hundreds of unique sporting newspapers and periodicals that focused solely on horse racing, Practically every single major city had at least one dedicated racing newsletter that reported on key races and celebrity racehorses. Below is an example of one of these periodicals: The Spirit of the Times. First published in 1831, The Spirit was one of the most prominent racing periodicals of the 1800s. This particular issue is from October of 1839. Beside it is an issue of the Los Angeles Times from October of 2017. Use the annotation tools here to compare and contrast the two newsletters. Read through each, looking for similarities and differences. These two newspaper were written nearly 180 years apart. Circle and connect key elements from both, and consider how horse racing in the 1800s was similar to major American sports coverage today. Feel free to zoom in and write notes upon this document, then discuss.

Sign of the Times: A Horse Racing Periodical

From America's inception, horse racing has been our most beloved national pastime. In the 1800s, a city wasn't truly a city until it had a racetrack. The equivalent of "water cooler conversation" back then was to discuss horses. Millions flocked to the turf annually to see talented thoroughbreds race for gold and glory.

This course will follow the trajectory of America's greatest sport during America's greatest national crisis. The American Civil War changed the face of the nation, and likewise, changed the sport forever. Racing historians split the sport into two distinct categories: pre-Civil War, and post-Civil War. In many ways, the history of horse racing mirrored the history of America itself. They were intertwined in a way that few sports are. How did this happen? What was racing like before the war, and how did it change? What were the key figures that made racing what it is today? Follow along during this journey through America's sport, and America's crisis.

From Track to Trench Educator Overview.pdf

From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf

U.S. History

Social Studies

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Framed and mounted steel horseshoe with letter. Following Lexington’s famous race against time when he set the record for fastest four-mile run, his horseshoe was taken off by a stable boy. The first item in the museum's collection, Lexington was one of America's first celebrity racehorses, and the nation's obsession with him reflected the importance and popularity of racing as a key American sport.

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Lexington's Plate

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From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf