Continue reading »]]> Wikipedia:

The Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project is an effort started by Peoria, Illinois Anesthesiologist Jeremy Krock and with support of the Society for American Baseball Research to put a proper headstone on the graves of former Negro League baseball players.

Founded in 2004, the Project started when Dr. Krock contacted members of the Society for American Baseball Research after he discovered there was no headstone on the grave of Jimmie Crutchfield, a player who grew up in Krock’s childhood home of Ardmore, Missouri. After Crutchfield, the Project went on to place headstones on the graves of John Donaldson, Candy Jim Taylor, Theodore “High Pockets” Trent, Guy C. Ousley, William James “Jack” Marshall, Roosevelt “Rosey” Davis, Paul James Hardy, Othello L. Strong, Steel Arm Johnny Taylor, Franklin Mann, Lester Lockett, Gabriel Patterson, Robert Gaston, Sam Bankhead, Bobby Robinson, Bill Gatewood, James Edward “Sap” Ivory, Robery “Fuzzy” Garrett, Frank Grant and Dink Mothell.

via Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Continue reading »]]> From the Woodlands Villager:

Having crafted his World War II novel through 16 years of detailed research, Woodlands author Franklin Kless admits it was a unique writing experience when a short story about America’s favorite past time suddenly dawned on him three years ago.“People don’t believe me when I tell them, but it just popped into my brain,” said Kless, a 30-year resident of The Woodlands. “It was so clear.”In six months, Kless wrote his 200-page short story, a fictionalized account of the first interracial baseball game in Vicksburg, Miss. in the 1940s and it was published. “The Game” is split into two parts, the challenge of how the game was created and an account of the game from the perspective of the two announcers, one a strong segregationist and the other more open-minded.

via Woodlands man’s novel examines baseball and race – Your Houston News: The Woodlands Villager: News.

Continue reading »]]> CJ Online:

Years after their deaths, the accolades continue to pour in for four Negro Leagues Baseball stars from Topeka.

Carroll Ray “Dink” Mothell, Elwood “Bingo” DeMoss, “Topeka Jack” Johnson and Dudley “Tullie” McAdoo, along with 10 other Negro Leaguers and five others, will be inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame on Feb. 4 at Hillside Christian Church in Wichita.

Joining the four former Topekans to the 2011 class are Dave Bingham, Darren Dreifort, Bob Homolka, Lee Stevens and Arky Vaughan, as well as Negro League stars Chet Brewer, Eddie Dwight, Oscar “Heavy” Johnson, Buck O’Neil, Satchel Paige, Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, George Sweatt, Richard Whitworth, Frank Wickware and T.J. Young.

via Negro Leaguers lead list of inductees into Kansas Baseball Hall | CJOnline.com.

Continue reading »]]> New in 2012 from author James A. Riley: Of Monarchs and Black Barons: Essays on Baseball’s Negro Leagues.

The first African American to play in baseball’s recognized major leagues, William Edward White, appeared in 1879, followed by brothers Fleetwood and Welday Walker in 1884. The fourth African American, Jackie Robinson, did not make his major league debut until 1947. This sixty-three year gap has become known as the era of “black baseball”–a time when two generations of African American players were excluded from the existing major leagues. This anthology provides insights into black baseball during this extraordinary time, examining the socio-economic and political conditions that created this remarkably distinctive institution, and spotlighting players who characterized its special flavor and spirit. Based on forty years of research and hundreds of interviews with surviving participants and observers, these articles preserve a crucial time in our country’s history and provide a thoughtful, new perspective on the Negro Leagues.

James A. Riley, a researcher, writer and a foremost authority on the Negro Baseball Leagues, is the author of six books and has contributed to many compilations and periodicals. He is the recipient of the McMillan-SABR Research Award and the SABR Negro League Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A past president of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), and former research director for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Riley lives in Woodstock, Georgia.

Continue reading »]]> From WXIA Atlanta

ATLANTA — If the Atlanta Black Crackers had a heyday, this film depicts it. In 1938, the team played in the Negro Major Leagues for one season, then promptly returned to the minor leagues. The film barely scratches the surface of that team.

“I believe it’s the only known footage of the Atlanta Black Crackers that exists,” said John Crater of the Atlanta History Center. “And to have something like that is just a gem for our collection.”

The Atlanta History Center discovered barely 50 seconds of Atlanta Black Crackers footage, commissioned by the Atlanta Negro Chamber of Commerce. The film shows a number of images of African American life in Atlanta in 1938.

Read more about this footage at WXIA

Continue reading »]]> From a painting of future Hall of Fame pitcher Willie Foster posing with young admirers to the wood carving commemorating Satchel Paige, the pieces showcased in the Shades of Greatness exhibit at Georgia Tech weave together the story of the Negro Leagues of Baseball.

The traveling exhibit, which will be at Georgia Tech until March 20, is being housed at the Institute’s Library, located at 704 Cherry St., in the Neely Gallery.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. A photo ID is required for entry into the library. Exhibit hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the steering committee for the yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the matriculation of the first black students to Tech and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, the exhibit was brought to campus as part of the anniversary celebration.

“This exhibit tells the story of African American history and culture through baseball,” said Gary May, chair of the steering committee for the 50^th anniversary celebration. “We hope the art not only educates those who come to see it, but also sparks conversations about everything from this facet of baseball history to the African American sports experience in general to larger issues of race and integration.”

The Shades of Greatness exhibit was developed in 2003 by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. The museum commissioned artists to create 35 works that interpret various themes and stories from Negro Leagues history.

A special program highlighting the exhibit will be held 4 p.m. on March 3 in room 105 of the Smith Building. The symposium will feature speaker James A. Riley, dean of Negro League history. It will also include a panel discussion by Douglas Flamming, professor in the School of History, Technology and Society, Ivan Allen College; Lucius Sanford, executive director of the Letterwinner Association, Georgia Tech Athletic Association; and Danny Hall, head baseball coach, Georgia Tech Athletic Association.

The panel will be moderated by Eleanor Alexander, associate professor in the School of History, Technology and Society and is sponsored by Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.