WHEREAS, the first game of baseball, as we know it, was played at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846; and

WHEREAS, in April 1946, Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play as a member of the Montreal Royals in a game against the Jersey City Giants in Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey, marking the beginning of racial integration of organized baseball; and

WHEREAS, 1996 will mark both the 150th anniversary of the first game of baseball and the 50th anniversary of the end of the barrier to African-Americans in our National Pastime; and

WHEREAS, there is a need to commemorate such occurrences and to mark New Jersey's place in such sports history; and

WHEREAS, a New Jersey Sports History Commission can best serve to prepare for and mark these anniversaries;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:

1. There is hereby established the New Jersey Sports History Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission.

2. The Commission shall be established in, but not of, the New Jersey Department of Commerce and Economic Development.

3. The Commission shall consist of 12 members appointed by the Governor, including the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development who shall serve as the chair of the Commission.

4. The Commission shall plan and implement the State commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the first game of baseball and the 50th anniversary of the beginning of integration of organized baseball by Jackie Robinson.

5. The Commission is authorized to solicit and receive financial and in-kind contributions from private organizations in furtherance of its purposes set forth in this Order.

6. The Commission is authorized to call upon any department, office, division or agency of this State to supply it with data and other information, personnel or assistance it deems necessary to discharge its duties under this Order. Each department, office, division or agency is hereby directed, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate with the Commission and to furnish it with such information, personnel, and assistance as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Order.

7. This Order shall take effect immediately.

GIVEN, under my hand and seal,
this 21st day of September in the
Year of Our Lord, One Thousand
Nine Hundred and Ninety-Five and
of the Independence of the United
States, the Two Hundred and Nineteenth.

/s/ Christine Todd Whitman
Governor

Attest:

/s/ Margaret M. Foti
Chief Counsel to the Governor