Athletes who changed the game. Moments that changed history.
Sports history is American history. At Playmaker Tours DC, we strive to:
- Magnify overlooked stories
- Value the common ground that connects us
- Preserve history where it happened
OUR TOURS
COMMON GROUND
Sports, History, & the American Story
From the U.S. Capitol Building to the World War II Memorial, this 2-hour walking tour on the National Mall explores how our national story has been shaped by sports. We uncover hidden moments that made history in DC and around the world, and highlight new angles of stories you may have heard before. Discover how a Major League catcher became a World War II spy, how a lawsuit over public golf access cracked open civil rights law, the history of sports and recreation at the White House, and so much more. Join us for incredible sports stories hiding in plain sight among our national landmarks!
2 hours | 2.1 walking miles | Start Point: East Front of U.S. Capitol
FROM SHAW TO ‘THE SHOW’
A Home Field History of DC Baseball
We begin in Shaw at the site of Griffith Stadium, where the Washington Senators and the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. We then ride the Green Line south as we explore the story of how DC lost its baseball teams multiple times, fought to reclaim its baseball identity, and has launched a new era at Nationals Park. This is DC’s baseball story, and it can’t be separated from American story.
Approximately 90 minutes | Walking & Green Line Metro | Starts at Shaw-Howard U Station
CHANGING THE GAME
How Black Washington’s Athletes Rewrote the Rules
We begin in the neighborhood where Black Washington built its own athletic world of courts, leagues, and institutions that persevered and thrived in the face of segregation - and produced some of the most consequential figures in American sports history. Learn how a physical education teacher introduced basketball to Black America here in DC, the story behind Howard University becoming an unlikely exemplar of HBCU athletic excellence, and about the athletes that used their skill to challenge the laws, customs, and power structures that kept them off the field. This is the story of how Black Washington’s athletes changed their sports, and their country.
Approximately 2 hours | Walking Tour | Starts at Shaw-Howard U Station
ABOUT PLAYMAKER TOURS
Playmaker Tours DC was built on a simple conviction: sports history is American history. Playmaker Tours are not trivia tours - we offer history tours that use sports as an entryway to our national story, because the world of sports is where some of the most important stories in American life actually happened.The idea for Playmaker Tours grew out of years of curiosity and digging through museums, archives, and down the kind of rabbit holes that start with searching one name and are still going three hours later! The more I looked, the more I found extraordinary stories hiding in plain sight here in DC - where millions of people have walked by without any idea of the powerful, hard-to-believe, or even outrageous past around them.I’ve called Washington DC home for over a decade, and these tours are my way of shining a light on stories that deserve to be told. My goal is simple: whether it’s your first time in DC or you’ve lived here for decades, you’ll finish one of our tours seeing this city - and our country - through a completely different lens, carrying stories you would never have found on your own.— Rory, Founder