Section 1 Cuban Giants season ticket, 1887 Courtesy of Larry Hogan Collection National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Jackie Robinson in military uniform
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Jackie Robinson in military uniform Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Branch Rickey Branch Rickey assigned Dodgers scout Clyde Sukeforth to find an African American player with major league talent and the courage to withstand harsh prejudicial treatment. Sukeforth found his man in Kansas City Monarchs shortstop Jackie Robinson. Despite opposition from major league owners, Rickey signed Robinson for the 1946 season with Brooklyn's farm team in Montreal. Jackie Robinson played the 1946 season with the Montreal Royals, Brooklyn’s International League farm team. Rickey hoped that Canada, a country with less racial prejudice, would provide Robinson with a gentler introduction to the minors. Robinson’s strong season with the Royals laid the groundwork for his promotion to the Dodgers in 1947. Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library American Hero Jackie Robinson became a hero to millions of Americans. He embodied the hope that one day the color of a person's skin would no longer determine the limits of opportunity. Nearly everybody agreed that Robinson’s ability to tolerate prejudice, and his ability to play, helped many accept that African Americans belonged in the majors and in mainstream American life. Jackie Robinson’s image appeared on the May 8, 1950, cover of LIFE magazine Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library “It is said on good authority that one of the leading players and a manager of the National League is advocating the entrance of colored players in the National League with a view of signing Matthews, the colored man, late of Harvard. It is not expected that he will succeed in his advocacy of such a move, but when such actions come to notice, there are grounds for hoping that some day the bar will drop and some good man will be chosen from out of the colored profession that will be a credit to all, and pave the way for others to follow.” ––Sol White, History of Colored Base Ball, 190 In Jack Roosevelt Robinson, Branch Rickey found Sol White’s “good man” to “pave the way.” Many a Skill Jackie Robinson burst onto the scene in 1947, breaking baseball’s color barrier and bringing the Negro leagues’ electrifying style of play to the majors. With Robinson as the catalyst, the Brooklyn Dodgers won six National League pennants and one World Series in his 10 seasons. On the field, Robinson excelled in all aspects of the game. He dominated the base paths, stealing home 19 times while riling opposing pitchers with his daring baserunning style. During his career, the six-time All-Star primarily played second base, but also served multiple seasons at third base and first base. Robinson was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1947 and captured the National League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1949, leading the league in hitting (.342) and steals (37) while knocking in 124 runs. His career batting average (.311) ranks him in the top ten of all time at second base. Jackie Robinson turns the double play at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Robinson steals home in the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Encountering Hatred Some Americans hated Robinson for crossing the color line and wrote vicious letters to him. Branch Rickey asked Robinson to turn the other cheek during his early years with the Dodgers. Following his major league career, Robinson discussed how difficult it had been to rise above the racial hatred he encountered. Example of hate mail received by Jackie Robinson when he broke into the majors Courtesy of Rachel Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers’ cap from Jackie Robinson’s 10-year major league career From the Barry Halper Collection Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr. /National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Timeline: African-American History 1948 Military Desegregates Despite objections by a few members of the officer corps, President Truman begins desegregation of the military via Executive Order. 1950-53 Korean Conflict U.S. combat units are integrated for the first time. 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Decision In a case argued by lawyer Thurgood Marshall, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that “separate but equal” facilities are unconstitutional. A year later the Court rules that school desegregation should proceed “with all deliberate speed.” 1955 Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott Rosa Parks refuses to move to the back of a city bus, triggering a boycott led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. , and energizing the civil rights movement.
President Eisenhower mobilizes federal troops and the Arkansas National Guard to protect nine African-American students at a previously all-white high school in Little Rock. Timeline: Baseball History 1947 Major League Baseball Integrates On April 15, Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play major league baseball in the 20th century. On July 5, the American League follows suit when Larry Doby takes the field for Cleveland. Black Journalists and the BBWAA Wendell Smith and Sam Lacy are the first black baseball writers admitted to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. 1948 Negro National League Folds By the end of the 1948 season, many of the best Negro league players move to major or minor league teams. Fewer people come to Negro league games, and several owners shut down operations rather than go bankrupt. 1949 Jackie Robinson Earns MVP Award In a stellar season, Jackie Robinson garners a league-leading 37 stolen bases and a .342 batting average to become the first black winner of the MVP award. 1951 All-Black Outfield In Game One of the World Series against the Yankees, the New York Giants field the first all-black outfield in major league history—Willie Mays, Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson. 1954 Women in the Negro Leagues Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Peanut Johnson all play for Negro American League teams. (Program page featuring Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Peanut Johnson Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) 1956 Don Newcombe The Brooklyn Dodgers’ star pitcher becomes the first African American to win the Cy Young Award (he wins the 1956 MVP Award, as well).
With Pumpsie Green’s signing by the Boston Red Sox, all major league teams are finally integrated, but black ballplayers still find it difficult to make big league rosters. 
SECTION 6 Post Integration Era 1948–Present Baseball cards honoring award-winning African-American players Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Between 1947 and 1959, every major league team’s roster was integrated, but in baseball, as in all parts of American life, questions concerning true equality of opportunity remained unresolved. The presence of black players, managers or team officials was not always fully accepted or welcomed. Despite progress on many fronts in baseball, such issues continue to be discussed today. During the 1972 World Series, Jackie Robinson called attention to the absence of African-American managers in the majors. Not until 1975 did Frank Robinson break the manager’s color line, piloting the Cleveland Indians for three years. Over the years, and often outside the public eye, integration of baseball’s executive offices and related businesses has remained an issue. Larry Doby and Satchel Paige In July 1947, the American League began integrating when Bill Veeck and the Cleveland Indians signed Larry Doby. Doby would go on to lead the American League in home runs with 32 in both 1952 and 1954. Though legendary pitcher Satchel Paige was nearing 50 years old when integration began, he still enjoyed a brief major league career, playing for both the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns. He also appeared in one game for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. St. Louis Browns home jersey worn by Satchel Paige, 1952 Donated by Lee MacPhail Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Jersey worn by Cleveland Indians center fielder Larry Doby, 1948 Loaned by the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Integration Is Gradual After Jackie Robinson's 1947 Dodgers debut, pressure mounted for the rest of the major league teams to integrate. But progress was slow, and it would take more than a decade before every club had at least one African-American player on its roster. “Colored” entrance tickets for a minor league Eastman (Georgia) Dodgers game, c. 1953 Donated by Hal M. Smith, Jr. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Handbill urging integration of the New York Yankees, distributed by the American Labor Party at Yankee Stadium, 1953 Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library (Background Photo) After Jackie Robinson integrated the ballfield itself, other areas of the game followed slowly. In some major league cities, black and white teammates could not stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants. In the minors, fans remained segregated in the stands, as in this 1949 photo from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Effa Manley Several Negro league owners, including Hall of Famer Effa Manley, hoped that the Negro leagues would become formal minor leagues within the majors’ organizational structure. Instead, the major leagues signed only the strongest black players, leaving other players, experienced managers and black owners with no role in the integrated game. Manley and her husband owned the Newark Eagles baseball franchise in the Negro leagues from 1935 to 1946. Effa Manley Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library League Leaders In 1949, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson made All-Star Game history at Ebbets Field as the first African-American players on the roster. Former Negro leaguers Campanella and Newcombe teamed with Robinson to make the Brooklyn Dodgers a perennial contender for the National League pennant and, ultimately, the World Championship in 1955. Newcombe, a pitcher and an all-around ballplayer, won 20 games in 1955 and batted .359 with seven home runs. In 1956 he won 27 games and was awarded baseball’s first Cy Young Award. Sam Jethroe, National League Rookie of the Year in 1950, led the league in stolen bases in his first two seasons, but injuries limited his major league career to just three full seasons. Jethroe played for the Boston Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sam Jethroe (in the uniform of the Boston Braves) Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson pose on the dugout steps at the 1949 All-Star Game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. This was the first All-Star Game to feature black players on the roster. Courtesy of United Press International Mary Quinn, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum On Opening Day 2002, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson wore this jersey when he returned to the dugout as the manager of the Montreal Expos. In 1975, Robinson had made baseball history when he was chosen by the Cleveland Indians as the major leagues’ first African-American manager. Donated by Frank Robinson Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Texas Rangers windbreaker jacket belonging to Comer Cottrell, Jr., the first African American to become a major league team owner. Cottrell partnered with George W. Bush to buy the club in 1989. Donated by Comer Cottrell, Jr. Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum In 1975, Frank Robinson made baseball history when he was chosen by the Cleveland Indians as the major leagues' first African-American manager. Robinson also excelled as a player in a 21-season career. He was the only player to win the Most Valuable Player award in both the National and American leagues and ranks in the top ten in career home runs. Robinson went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals. Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Timeline: African-American History 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins African-American students in North Carolina stage sit-ins at lunch counters where they are not allowed to eat. 1963 March on Washington Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech to a massive protest rally of nearly 250,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights leader receives the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. 1964 Civil Rights Act Outlaws racial discrimination in all public accommodations and employment Twenty-Fourth Amendment Abolishes poll taxes in federal elections, which are required by some southern states in an effort to prevent African Americans from voting Voting Rights Act Abolishes literacy-test requirements and other discriminatory practices traditionally used to keep black citizens from registering to vote
Three gunmen kill the civil rights leader at a speaking engagement in Manhattan. (Malcolm X Courtesy of Library of Congress) Affirmative Action President Lyndon B. Johnson signs an Executive Order requiring all government contractors and subcontractors to take “affirmative action” to expand job opportunities for minorities.
Edward Brooke is elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. He is the first African-American senator since Reconstruction. Black Panther Party Founded by black revolutionaries Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and Richard Aoki, the party promotes militant self-defense and black liberation. 1967 Thurgood Marshall The U.S. Senate approves President Lyndon Johnson’s nomination of Thurgood Marshall, making him the first black Supreme Court justice.
Two years after riots erupted in the Watts section of Los Angeles, civil rights protests spread to northern cities where they sometimes turn violent. Newark and Detroit experience major riots in July. 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated Senator Kennedy is shot following the California Democratic Party primary for president just two months after the killing of Dr. King, the civil rights leader. Shirley Chisholm The citizens of New York’s 12th District, located in Brooklyn, elect the first black woman to the U.S. Congress as a member of the House of Representatives. (Shirley Chisholm Courtesy of Library of Congress) 1978 Affirmative Action Upheld The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action policies in the Regents of the University of California V. Bakke decision. 1983 Martin Luther King Jr. Day New national holiday approved by the U.S. Congress, to begin in 1986 1992 Carol Moseley Braun First African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate Los Angeles Riots After four white police officers are found not guilty of using excessive force in the videotaped beating of African-American Rodney King, riots erupt in Los Angeles. 1995 Million Man March This Washington, D.C. rally seeks to strengthen the family and challenge negative images of African-American men. 2001 General Colin Powell Colin Powell becomes U.S. Secretary of State, the first African American appointed to this high political office. 2005 Rosa Parks Dies The civil rights pioneer is the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Timeline: Baseball History 1960 Negro American League Folds With the continuing integration of the white major leagues, the Negro American League can no longer support itself with its remaining talent base.
First African-American major league coach, with the Chicago Cubs (Buck O’Neil Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) (Emmett Ashford Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) 1966 Emmett Ashford First African-American umpire in the major leagues Ted Williams’ Induction Speech During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Ted Williams calls for recognition of the great Negro league players and hopes they will some day be elected to the Hall of Fame. 1970 Curt Flood After refusing to play for Philadelphia following a 1969 trade, Flood sues Major League Baseball in an effort to abolish the long-standing reserve clause, likening it to slavery. Though not successful, his lawsuit sparks the clause’s eventual elimination and the beginning of free agency in 1975. 1971 First All-Black Lineup On September 1, the Pittsburgh Pirates use the first all-black lineup in major league history. Satchel Paige Satchel Paige becomes the first player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame based solely on his performance in the Negro leagues.
Former Negro league player and Atlanta Braves star Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the career home run record holder in major league history.
African Americans make up nearly one quarter of all players on major league rosters, the height of black participation in baseball history. 1975 Frank Robinson The majors’ first African-American field manager works for the Cleveland Indians from 1975 through 1977. He goes on to manage San Francisco, Baltimore, Montreal and Washington. 1984 In the Front Office The Atlanta Braves promote Bill Lucas to vice president and director of player personnel, making him the first African American to head up front office operations for a major league club. 1989 Bill White A 13-year major league player, Bill White becomes president of the National League. Len Coleman, another African American, succeeds him from 1994 to 1999. (Bill White Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) Comer Cottrell Jr. Comer Cottrell, Jr. becomes part-owner of the Texas Rangers, making him the first African American to partially own a major league team.
Toronto’s Cito Gaston is the first African-American manager to lead his team to a World Series victory. (Cito Gaston Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) 1993 First Black General Manager Bob Watson is promoted to GM by the Houston Astros, becoming the first black man to hold this post in the major leagues. Three years later he wins a World Series as Yankees GM. (Bob Watson Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library) 1997 Jackie Robinson’s Number Retired Robinson’s number “42” is retired throughout all levels of professional baseball, an honor never before bestowed on any player. 2005 Black Participation Declines African-American participation in the majors is down to nine percent, the lowest since the early 1960s. Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, a traveling exhibition for libraries, was organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York, and the American Library Association Public Programs Office, Chicago. The traveling exhibition has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum wishes to recognize the following for their assistance in the development of this exhibit: Dick Clark Phil Dixon Dr. Lawrence Hogan John Holway Larry Lester Rachel Robinson Gretchen S. Sorin
for funding the Museum’s study on African-American baseball from 1860 to 1960, conducted by the Negro Leagues Researchers & Authors Group from 2001 to 2005.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Exhibit Design: Chester Design Associates, Chicago Exhibit Tour Management: American Library Association Public Programs Office Directory: programming -> sites -> ala.org.programming -> files -> content content -> Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World Section One content -> Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry Exhibit Script Panel 1 Dust, Drought, and Dreams Gone Dry programming -> Abbsoft computers programming -> Programming in C: a tutorial programming -> Programming Languages and Learning Contributors programming -> First-generation programming language Download 144.33 Kb. Share with your friends:
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