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 color 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 past 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.