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FAHI’s newest exhibit honors local athletes

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August 26, 2025
in Local News
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Fayette Area Historical Initiative’s (FHAI’s) honors African American athletes from the region. Executive Director Charisse Hairston said more than 20 local athletes are represented.
Fayette Area Historical Initiative’s (FHAI’s) honors African American athletes from the region. Executive Director Charisse Hairston said more than 20 local athletes are represented.

The Fayette Area Historical Initiative’s (FAHI) newest exhibit, honoring African American athletes from the region, opened Wednesday, Aug. 13.

FAHI Executive Director Charisse Hairston said about 22 athletes are featured.

“From a Negro League Baseball player to a Major League Baseball player to multiple minor league baseball players, international basketball players, NFL players, a track runner, and a golfer,” she said.

The exhibit also highlights two heavyweight boxers, including one world champion, and a UFC fighter.

The exhibit will be open through November. It includes signed jerseys, gloves, bats, balls, helmets, and other memorabilia.
The exhibit will be open through November. It includes signed jerseys, gloves, bats, balls, helmets, and other memorabilia.

It includes photographs, biographical information, and sports memorabilia such as jerseys, gloves, helmets, bats, balls, and books.

Hairston said while the concept was largely her idea, FAHI board member Joyce Staples had also suggested something similar.

As executive director, Hairston said part of her goal is to get people engaged and make them want to come to the museum. “To do that you have to have transitioning exhibits. You have to have something new, and you have to find things people are interested in.”

This year’s Juneteenth Festival theme, “Inspiring Our Future,” influenced Hairston’s approach. She has been working with local schools to encourage student tours.

“Through that, what I have noticed is that the kids, it’s hard for them to wrap their mind around the idea that some of these people that we talk about can be special or make impacts because they’re from here. They don’t realize the brevity of how much history lies here,” she said.

To get them to understand, Hairston said she came up with the idea to show them through sports.

“Whether they’re into sports or not, right, they go to high school football games, they go to the high school basketball games, you see that on a regular basis. A lot of them watch sports on TV, they can tell you about the Superbowl, they can tell you about the NBA Championship, the NCAA,” she said.

Hairston brought in former NBA player Gary Forbes and former WNBA player Sylvia Crawley Spann for the Juneteenth festival.

“I wish you could have seen the eyes of some of those kids and how excited they were,” she said. “I did that knowing the new exhibit would be on professional athletes from here, so I wanted to show them that people will come here, but also that people from here have gone far.”

Hairston believes the exhibit is among FAHI’s most detailed. It will remain on display through November, with portions becoming part of a permanent collection.

Many of the athletes attended a preopening event on Aug. 8, where Hairston said some were moved to tears.

“Like Lou Whitaker — everyone knows Lou Whitaker,” she said. “But his nephew Jeff Whitaker played in the minor leagues, along with six other minor league players from here. They often don’t get that recognition. Jeff signed his jersey during the event with his son beside him, and you could tell how honored he was.”

Retired NFL player Delvin Joyce drove up from Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend.

“It’s one thing for other people to acknowledge you, but to be recognized by a museum in your own area, where you played high school ball, was overwhelming to them,” Hairston said.

The community response has also been positive, with many visitors urging FAHI to make the exhibit permanent.

FAHI is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first and third Saturdays of each month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Small group tours can be scheduled outside of regular hours.

For more information, visit www.fahi.org or Facebook.com/FayetteAreaHistoricalInitiative.

Hairston discussed various athletes that are featured in the exhibit.
Hairston discussed various athletes that are featured in the exhibit.

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