Locals feel attached to the Babe Ruth story: The top floor of the Flor-de-Leon has the co-op penthouse he left to his "maid"; Gulfport's Pink Flamingo Tour of Homes this year includes "Babe Ruth Slept Here" home. In truth, Babe Ruth slept a lot of places — and not that often alone. He was apparently, ahem, an eminently lovable guy.
But that's not what this is about. This is about Babe Ruth's love for Jewish people. This is, of course, well-documented — perhaps not as well-documented as Babe's many love affairs, but it's certainly not a secret. And perhaps, artnothate.com argues, it should be more in the zeitgeist these days:
"In a world of fake news and heinous public figures and celebrities, Babe Ruth's courage on behalf of Jews being consumed by the Holocaust and African Americans being excluded from pro baseball is a story worth exploring," read a press release they sent us.
To that end, high school students can submit an essay to ArtNotHate blog — an essay about a time they stood up to injustice. The idea, the website explains, is to encourage the writers to think about the injustice — and justice — in their immediate world.
The deadline is Mar. 15.
Up to four winning students get $100 each; teachers of winning students get $50 gift cards towards school supplies. Keep St. Pete Lit and the St. Petersburg Museum of History, who are co-presenting the contest, will also honor the winners at an awards ceremony during April's SunLit Festival.
