- FINDING A WAY IN HARD
TIMES, 1860-1887
Following the Civil War (1861-1865), Reconstruction was meant to
establish freedom and fairness for former slaves.
It failed dismally, even in baseball, a game spread
throughout the nation by the war. In both the
North and the South, opportunities for black players in
organized baseball narrowed as racial prejudice
deepened. As black communities became worlds of
their own within the larger American society, African
Americans established teams in clubs and schools.
When lines of
prejudice firmed up by the mid-1880s, black players also
formed professional teams, as opportunities for playing
with white ballplayers faded away. Moses Fleetwood
Walker and his brother, Weldy were the first black
ballplayers to play on a white major league team when
they played for Toledo in 1884, and they would be the
last integrated major leaguers until Jackie Robinson in
1947.
- BARNSTORMING ON THE OPEN
ROAD, 1887-1919
By the late 1880s, more than 30 African Americans played on
organized baseball rosters, mainly in the minor leagues.
They were confronted with the insults of teammates,
rough play of opponents, and the occasional violence of
locals. Then in 1887, International League owners
agreed to make no new contracts with African-American
players. In unspoken agreement, other leagues
adopted similar policies over the next 15 years.
With few if
any options left, black players started their own
professional teams. They barnstormed throughout
many of the nation's towns and cities, playing against
all comers and building a reputation for great baseball.
By 1910, more than 60 teams were on the road. Some
were so good that no amount of prejudice could deny
their talent, yet throughout the era of segregated
baseball, teams scrambled simply to exist.
- SEPARATE LEAGUES, PARALLEL
LIVES, 1920-1932
The first successfully organized black league appeared in 1920, and was soon
followed by others. Although these early leagues
were plagued by financial difficulties and changing
teams and schedules, they managed to survive through
perseverance, constant play, tremendous skill, and hard
work.
Hoping to lessen the
effects of discriminatory practices of white-run booking
agencies and enhance opportunities for black players,
black owner-managers Rube Foster of the Chicago American
Giants and C.I. Taylor of the Indianapolis ABCs formed
the Negro National League in 1920. The Eastern
Colored League soon followed for the 1923 season.
These leagues prospered during Roaring Twenties, as many
southern rural African Americans migrated to northern
and midwestern industrial cities looking for better work
opportunities during "the Great Migration." The
first era of black professional baseball ended with the
coming of the Great Depression, which created immense
hardship for African-American communities.
- PAVING THE WAY TO
INTEGRATION, 1933-1946
The Great Depression of the 1930s hit hard in many new and vibrant, but relatively
poor, black neighborhoods of industrialized America,
where spending power was already limited.
Attendance at black baseball games plummeted. By
1931, both the Negro National and Eastern Colored
leagues had folded, but black baseball quickly
reorganized. Eventually Negro league baseball grew
into a multi-million dollar enterprise, one of the
largest in the African-American community and a focus of
pride.
Playing under lights helped
preserve black baseball during the Depression, as did
the East-West all-star game, which annually put the best
players of the Negro leagues in the spotlight at
Comiskey Park in Chicago, drawing as many as 50,000
fans for one of the most important events in the
African-American community.
- JACKIE ROBINSON BREAKS THE
BARRIER, 1947
As World War II ended, many
African Americans believed that "separate but equal"
could no longer be tolerated because while much was
separate, little was equal. Brooklyn Dodgers
president Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson took the
lead in testing America's tolerance for integrated
baseball. Under pressure, the major and minor
leagues began to desegregate, but slowly and on their
own terms.
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 belong in the majors and in
mainstream American life. The integration of
baseball acted as a harbinger of things to come.
- POST-INTEGRATION ERA,
1948-PRESENT
After 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.
By 1959, every major league
team's roster was integrated, but in baseball, as in all
parts of American life, questions concerning the true
equality of opportunity remained unresolved. The
presence of black players, managers, executives or team
officials was not always fully accepted or welcomed.
Over the years, and often outside the public eye,
integration of baseball's executive offices and related
business has remained an issue. |
