Smithsonian tour brings O’ree to tears
WASHINGTON Cameras followed Willie O’ree’s every move and flashbulbs popped as the hockey pioneer toured the Smithsonian’s Museum of African-american History and Culture.
When the player who broke the NHL’S colour barrier in 1958 stood next to a statue of Jackie Robinson, commissioner Gary Bettman paused to take his phone out and snap a few photos of his own. O’ree and Bettman have attended countless events together over the last two decades, but this tour on the opening day of the season and a month before they’re inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame together was a unique opportunity for an influential newsmaker to immerse himself in hundreds of years of history.
“It brought back a lot of memories for me,” O’ree said Wednesday. “My grandparents, they were slaves. And now to see this, it’s just amazing. I had a few tears in my eyes there.”
With Bettman by his side, O’ree wiped tears from his eyes as sports curator Damion Thomas talked about the small buildings slaves slept in after picking cotton from sunrise to sunset. He stopped to read about Michael Jordan’s influence and got a kick out of a story about Chuck Berry driving a red Cadillac on stage to perform at St. Louis’ Fox Theatre.
O’ree’s impact is still being felt today as there are now more than two dozen black players in the NHL.
O’ree, 82, wants to return with his family after getting only 90 minutes or so to walk around. But those were some important minutes for the museum itself with a living legend in its hallways.
“It was an honour to tour through the museum with Willie,” Thomas said. “You’re not just sharing history with a member of the public, but you’re sharing history with a history maker. So what you hope that you’re able to do in the museum is to have people see their contributions in a much larger light, have people be able to see how their contributions connect to other parts of history.”