NIU’s Women’s Studies Program gave students an in-depth look at a nearly forgotten sports legend Monday afternoon.

The presentation, titled “Women in Uniform: True Stories from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League,” detailed the life and times of the Rockford Peaches, the World War II-era women’s baseball team that inspired the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.”

Formed in 1943, the women’s league was an answer to the large amount of Major League Baseball players that were sent off to war, said WNIJ News Director Susan Stephens, who hosted the event.

Founder Philip K. Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, felt it was his patriotic duty to continue the sport of baseball, Stephens said, and promoted the league as good, wholesome fun for Americans.

Consisting of about 600 players and 10 teams, the league endured until 1954..

Stephens said the Peaches were one of two teams, along with the South Bend Blue Sox, to last the duration of the league.

Players ranged from farm girls to tough city kids, she said, with some even arriving from Cuba.

Although fiercely competitive, players still were sent to school to learn ladylike behavior and “feminine appeal,” Stephens said.

Clips from a Peaches documentary in progress also were shown at the event. While much of the team’s memorabilia has been donated to museums, the documentary’s value lies in the raw interview footage with Peaches players, Stephens said.

Students watching the documentary laughed as the elderly players recounted their baseball days.

Monday’s presentation was the first in a series of events hosted by the Women’s Studies Program as a part of Women’s History Month.