“Though my dad never really talked about it, I know he faced lots of criticism as well as racial prejudice because he was of Mexican descent,” Ernie Martinez said. “He persevered by being the best player he could be and ignoring the prejudice. Baseball was a great equalizer for him. It did not matter what a player looked like. What mattered is how they played the game.”

The younger Martinez held on to his father’s baseball artifacts until he heard of the multiyear collection initiative started late last year by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History called “Latinos and Baseball: In the Barrios and the Big Leagues.”

In July, Martinez and his family took his father’s collection to LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles, one of several local institutions around the country collaborating with the museum, and donated it. He said the family was honored that the Smithsonian accepted.

“In hindsight, baseball paved the way for my father to come to this country and contribute in a positive way,” Martinez said. “My brothers and I are thrilled that his memorabilia has found a home forever in America’s museum because his story really is an American story.”

Capturing such stories is the impetus behind the Smithsonian’s initiative.

The Smithsonian already has some pertinent artifacts, such as the uniform of the Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, but there are significant gaps when it comes to the everyday stories from the barrios, which are “mundane and spectacular,” said Margaret Salazar-Porzio, the project’s lead curator.