Washington Nationals and DCPS Spearhead Civic Learning Through the Josh Gibson Cornerstone Experience

As part of Black History Month and the Washington Nationals’ ongoing community engagement efforts, the Club has helped form a partnership with DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the Josh Gibson Foundation to launch a Cornerstone experience for eighth-grade students exploring the story of legendary Negro Leagues catcher Josh Gibson and the history of the Homestead Grays.

Developed by DCPS teachers, Cornerstones provide classroom lessons that engage real-world experiences across units of study. Part of DCPS’ revamped eighth-grade social studies curriculum, the Josh Gibson Cornerstone will incorporate the history of baseball in Washington, D.C., with an eye toward civic action. The new curriculum is set to be integrated into classroom instruction in March.

A 12-time All-Star, two-time Negro Leagues World Series champion, three-time Negro National League batting champion, two-time Triple Crown winner and the second Negro Leagues player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. (1972), Josh Gibson cemented himself as one of the greatest home run hitters and most feared sluggers of any era.

In May 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated statistics from the Negro Leagues, which resulted in Gibson becoming MLB’s career leader in multiple offensive categories. With a .372 career batting average, he officially surpassed Ty Cobb (.367) as the all-time career leader in average. Often called the “Black Babe Ruth,” Gibson also overtook Ruth’s records as the career leader in slugging percentage (.718 vs. .690) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.177 vs. 1.164). He also holds the all-time single-season record in those same categories.

Gibson’s legacy, however, encompasses more than his on-the-field statistics, his statue outside of the ballpark in recognition of his Hall of Fame career, or his place as one of six Grays players featured in the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park. The Josh Gibson Cornerstone Experience serves as part of a long-term educational partnership that connects baseball to the classroom through examination of primary sources provided by the Gibson Foundation and broader discussions of race, labor, civic identity and the social forces that shaped the District.

The initiative brings together the Nationals organization, DCPS leadership and middle school educators, and historians and representatives from the Josh Gibson Foundation, including Gibson Foundation president Sean Gibson. The great-grandson of Josh Gibson, Sean participated in the Nationals’ first-ever Negro Leagues Night panel in 2025.

The Nationals relationship with the Josh Gibson Foundation emerged when a group of Gibson Foundation students were invited to Nationals Park for a game, pregame programming and a player meet-and-greet. What began as a day of enrichment at the ballpark offered an opportunity for the Nationals to help bring D.C.’s rich Black baseball history directly into the classroom.

“The Nationals have been proud of our literacy and career development programs at the elementary and high school levels through Grand Slam Schools and NatsPrep, but we felt it was important to close the gap with middle school students,” said Ashleigh Hazley, Nationals Senior Director of Youth Programming, Community Relations. “We were thrilled to have the opportunity to connect the Josh Gibson Foundation with DCPS to support a middle school-focused curriculum that provides a path to meaningful local history lessons at such a critical time in a student’s academic journey.”

In April, the Nationals will host eighth-grade students across DCPS at Nationals Park for a day of baseball-centered academic enrichment and an opportunity to apply their learning to a capstone project, culminating in a presentation to their peers at the ballpark.

These efforts to incorporate the Josh Gibson story and D.C.’s baseball history into the eighth-grade curriculum reflect a commitment from the Nationals, DCPS and the Gibson Foundation to keep local history at the forefront of social studies, and how baseball’s legacy can become a bridge to conversations about the present and the future.