Foundry Field

Foundry Field: Home of the Giants - A Place for Play, for Story, for Community.

Join us in creating a beautiful public baseball field for children & adults in South Bend’s urban core, a place to celebrate stories of underrepresented teams of our past. Foundry Field will provide a quality public-access baseball field for children and adults in South Bend’s urban core. When completed, it will be a truly remarkable public space that adds vitality to the Southeast neighborhood an

d celebrates the baseball stories of our city’s marginalized communities. A PLACE FOR PLAY: This high-quality baseball field will be publicly accessible and reservable through South Bend Venues Parks & Arts, with priority given to our local program partners like the Boys and Girls Club and South Bend schools. A PLACE FOR STORY: Using historical research and public art, baseball stories of the past that highlight underrepresented teams or players will connect the community to our past and to nationally-known mural artists. A PLACE FOR COMMUNITY: Enhanced community space will bring community-focused structures surrounding the field to expand the community experience and increase community usage of the park. RECOVERING A RICH HISTORY
In the 1920s, the Studebaker industrial baseball league was at the top of the South Bend sports page, and the Foundry Giants were often at the top of the standings. The predominantly black team hailed from the Studebaker foundry and included several players who would play in the Negro Leagues. Much of the history of the Foundry Giants has been lost—although cryptic box scores remain scattered throughout the local newspaper archives. Foundry Field is dedicated to recovering that history and honoring the Foundry Giants alongside other underrepresented baseball teams or players from South Bend’s history. Through our collaboration with the community, our local partners, and historical researchers, we hope to gain a clearer picture of these men and women—helping to preserve their stories of courage, resilience, and determination as they navigated issues of inequality, accessibility, and representation in their time. Our aim is to inspire the next generation to continue the fight for greater equality, access, and representation for all South Bend residents. Learn more and be a part of the Foundry Field project by visiting https://foundryfield.org

03/13/2025

The Foundry Giants squared off against the Uncle Bill’s Softball team again as we tested our Foundry Field game at Katherine Walden’s Sport and Big Data class. The highlight from five games, Doris Grady stealing home for the win!

01/20/2025

Support your local Little League! Get those kids signed up, coach, umpire, or support these leagues. Let’s keep growing access to baseball in South Bend.

01/17/2025

"The idea of baseball history is not this neutral thing. It's people making choices about which stories we tell," Katherine Walden. Walden and Greg Bond of Notre Dame guide Foundry Field's historical research team. Over the last two years, they've worked with Notre Dame students to document, share, and reconnect our community to important histories of community leadership, courage, tenacity, and sometimes baseball.

Join us as we continue to transform Foundry Field into a powerful place for play, story, and community. We are currently seeking funding for field lighting, bullpens, fencing, and the construction of dugouts, a public pavilion, and a stage/scoreboard.

10/17/2024

Giving the Foundry Giants and Uncle Bill’s teams a few more at bats—and sharing their stories with our South Bend educators.

Thanks to Teachers As Scholars program and we were able to test a new Foundry Field board game designed to work in classrooms or after-school clubs.

10/17/2024

09/12/2024

WE NEED YOU: know a boy or girl in grade school? Neighbor, niece, grandson… send them our way. We’d love to share the game of baseball with them THIS Saturday! It’s free and no equipment required!

They can sign up at: foundryfield.org

09/09/2024

This one means a lot. has been a partner from the beginning. The Engman Public Natatorium tells the story of strength and resilience in the face of segregation and aggression. Today it’s home to South Bend’s wonderful Civil Rights Heritage Center.

A grateful moment to put our sign in this space.

09/02/2024

Not only have many of these guys helped make Foundry Field come to life, they’ve officially moved into dynasty status. The South Shore Liners bring home their fourth Sappy Moffitt League Championship. A great way to soft-open Foundry Field.

09/01/2024

It’s a nail biter… 1-run game headed to the bottom of the sixth.

08/23/2024

OPENING DAY!!! September 14th — Bring your friends and neighbors to celebrate the opening of Foundry Field!

07/17/2024

Get your kids, grandkids, neighbors, and friends to Foundry Field and compete in this years’ MLB Pitch Hit and Run competition. All skill levels welcome! Boys and Girls ages 7-14 that live within 100 miles of South Bend can sign up at: mlb.com/pitch-hit-and-run

Help us support the Boys and Girls Club by getting a bunch of kids signed up!

07/10/2024

Incredible to have Nicholas Mainieri working on this! Well deserved fellowship!

🎉 We're so excited to announce the 2024 class of New America’s Us@250 Initiative!

Thirteen fellows and two senior fellows will reimagine the American narrative through storytelling that reflects our shared values and aspirations, just in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

🇺🇸 https://go.newamerica.org/2024-us250-fellows-3

06/23/2024

Another neighborhood park. How about a U.S. sandlot team tour?

06/22/2024

Himeji, Japan: different culture, different dirt, same dream.

06/13/2024

It’s been a great week for Foundry Field. First we were notified that we were one of 143 entries (out of nearly 3,000) to be given an award of Excellence by . Then Magazine announced that we placed first in the Design for Social Impact category in the Print Awards 2024 competition. Really happy that the project is getting recognition from so many angles... including design. Credit to the fabulous community partners, collaborators, and artists that have contributed to this project.

05/23/2024

Two new murals completed at Foundry Field in South Bend Monday night, two new murals were added to the outfield wall at Foundry Field.Foundry Field is designed to celebrate underrepresented baseball teams from South