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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
The Hall of Fame would also like to thank Major League Baseball
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.
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.
The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name on permanent display at the
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.
After Jackie Robinson's 1947 Dodgers debut, pressure
mounted for the rest of the major league teams to inte-
grate. 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.
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
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.
League Leaders
Integration Is GradualBetween 1947 and 1959, every major league team’s rosterwas integrated, but in baseball, as in all parts of American life,questions concerning true equality of opportunity remainedunresolved. The presence of black players, managers or teamofficials was not always fully accepted or welcomed. Despiteprogress on many fronts in baseball, such issues continue tobe discussed today.
During the 1972 World Series, Jackie Robinson called attentionto the absence of African-American managers in the majors.Not until 1975 did Frank Robinson break the manager’s colorline, piloting the Cleveland Indians for three years. Over theyears, and often outside the public eye, integration of baseball’sexecutive offices and related businesses has remained an issue.
Effa ManleyCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
St. Louis Browns home jersey worn by Satchel Paige,1952Donated by Lee MacPhail
Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of
Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and JackieRobinson pose on the dugout steps at the 1949 All-Star
Game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. This was thefirst All-Star Game to feature black players on the roster.Courtesy of United Press International
Mary Quinn, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella
Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Texas Rangers windbreaker jacket belonging to Comer Cottrell, Jr., the first
African American to become a major league team owner. Cottrell partneredwith 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
On Opening Day 2002, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson wore this jersey when hereturned 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 themajor leagues’ first African-American manager.Donated by Frank Robinson
Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Baseball cards honoring award-winning African-American playersCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
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
Sam Jethroe (in the uniform of the Boston Braves)Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
(Background Photo)After Jackie Robinson integrated the
ballfield itself, other areas of the gamefollowed slowly. In some major leaguecities, black and white teammates
could not stay in the same hotels oreat in the same restaurants. In the
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
“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
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.
P O S T I N T E G R A T I O N E R A 1 9 4 8 – P R E S E N T
The Afr ican-Amer ican Basebal l Exper iencePRIDE &
A f r i c a n -American History Baseball History
Buck O’NeilCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Emmett AshfordCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Courtesy of the National Archivesand Records Administration,Washington, D.C
Curt FloodCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Satchel Paige at his 1971 inductionCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
In 1975, Frank Robinson made baseball history when he was chosen
by the Cleveland Indians as the major leagues' first African-Americanmanager. Robinson excelled as a player as well 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 careerhome runs. Robinson went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, theBaltimore Orioles, the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals.
Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Bill WhiteCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Cito GastonCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Bob WatsonCourtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library
Thurgood MarshallCourtesy of Libraryof Congress
Shirley ChisolmCourtesy of Library of Congress
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.
1 9 6 0LUNCH COUNTER SIT-INS
African-American students in North Carolina stage sit-ins at lunch counters where they are not allowed to eat.
1 9 6 3MARCH ON WASHINGTON
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech to a massive protestrally of nearly 250,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights leader
receives the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
BUCK O’NEIL
First African-American major league coach,
with the Chicago Cubs
1 9 6 4CIVIL 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 discriminatorypractices traditionally used to keep black citizens from
registering to vote
MALCOLM X ASSASSINATED
Three gunmen kill the civil rights leader at a speaking engagement in Manhattan.
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.
1 9 6 6
FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN SENATOR SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
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.
1 9 6 7
THURGOOD MARSHALL
The U.S. Senate approves President Lyndon Johnson’s nomination of Thurgood Marshall, making him the first black Supreme Court justice.
CIVIL RIGHTS PROTESTS CONTINUE
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.
1 9 6 8
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND ROBERT F. KENNEDY
ASSASSINATED
Senator Kennedy is shot following the California Democratic Party primary forpresident 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.
FIRST ALL-BLACKLINEUP
On September 1, the PittsburghPirates use the first all-black lineup in major league history.
SATCHEL PAIGESatchel Paige becomes the first player inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame based solely on his performance in the Negro leagues.
HANK AARONFormer Negro league player and Atlanta Braves star Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the career home runrecord holder in major league history.
MLB PARTICIPATIONAfrican Americans make up nearly one quarter of all
players on major league rosters, the height of black participation in baseball history.
FRANK ROBINSON
The majors’ first African-American field manager works for theCleveland Indians from 1975 through 1977. He goes on to
manage San Francisco, Baltimore, Montreal and Washington.
IN THE FRONT OFFICE
The Atlanta Braves promote Bill Lucas to vice president anddirector of player personnel, making him the first African American tohead up front office operations for a major league club.
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.
COMER COTTRELL JR.Comer Cottrell, Jr. becomes part-owner of the Texas Rangers, makinghim the first African American to partially
own a major league team.
CITO GASTON
Toronto’s Cito Gaston is the first African-American manager to leadhis team to a World Series victory.
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.
JACKIE ROBINSON’S NUMBER RETIRED
Robinson’s number “42” is retired throughout all levels of professionalbaseball, an honor never before bestowed on any player.
BLACK PARTICIPATIONDECLINES
African-American participation inthe majors is down to
nine percent, the lowest since
EMMETT ASHFORDFirst 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.
CURT FLOOD
After refusing to play forPhiladelphia following a 1969
trade, Flood sues Major LeagueBaseball in an effort to abolish
2 0 0 5ROSA PARKS DIES
The civil rights pioneer is the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
.
2 0 0 1
GENERAL COLIN POWELL
Colin Powell becomes U.S. Secretary of State, the first
African American appointed to this high political office.
1 9 9 5
MILLION MAN MARCH
This Washington, D.C. rally seeks to strengthen the family
and challenge negative images of African-American men.
1 9 9 2
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.
1 9 8 3
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
New national holiday approved by the U.S. Congress, to begin in 1986
1 9 7 8
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION UPHELD
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action policies in the Regents of the University of California V. Bakke decision.
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