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Baseball cards honoring award-winning African-American players 6A Courtesy of National Hall of Fame Library

A f r i c a n -American History Baseball History

League Leaders 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 0 POST INTEGRATION ERA 1948–PRESENT LUNCH COUNTER SIT-INS EGRO MERICAN EAGUE OLDS N A L F Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, African-American students in stage sit-ins at lunch With the continuing integration of the white major leagues, , D.C In 1949, , , counters where they are not allowed to eat. the Negro can no longer support itself and made All-Star Game history at with its remaining talent base. as the first African-American players on the 1 9 6 2 roster. Former Negro leaguers Campanella and BUCK O’NEIL Between 1947 and 1959, every major league team’s roster Integration Is Gradual Newcombe teamed with Robinson to make the Brooklyn 1 9 6 3 First African-American major league , MARCH ON WASHINGTON was integrated, but in baseball, as in all parts of American life, Dodgers a perennial contender for the with the Cubs and, ultimately, the in 1955. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech to a massive protest questions concerning true equality of opportunity remained After Jackie Robinson's 1947 Dodgers debut, pressure rally of nearly 250,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The civil rights leader Newcombe, a and an all-around ballplayer, won receives the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. mounted for the rest of the major league teams to inte- unresolved. The presence of black players, managers or team 20 games in 1955 and batted .359 with seven runs. grate. But progress was slow, and it would take more than officials was not always fully accepted or welcomed. Despite In 1956 he won 27 games and was awarded baseball’s 1 9 6 4 a decade before every club had at least one African- first Award. , National League CIVIL RIGHTS ACT progress on many fronts in baseball, such issues continue to American player on its roster. Sam Jethroe (in the of the Braves) Rookie of the Year in 1950, led the league in stolen bases Outlaws racial discrimination in all public accommodations and employment be discussed today. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library in his first two seasons, but injuries limited his major TWENTY-FOURTH AMENDMENT On 2002, Hall of Famer wore this jersey when he “Colored” entrance tickets for a Eastman () Buck O’Neil Dodgers game, c. 1953 league career to just three full seasons. Jethroe played returned to the as the of the Expos. In 1975, Robinson Abolishes poll taxes in federal elections, which are required by some southern Courtesy of National Baseball During the 1972 , Jackie Robinson called attention Donated by Hal M. Smith, Jr. had made baseball history when he was chosen by the Indians as the states in an effort to prevent from voting Hall of Fame Library Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library for the Boston Braves and the Pirates. major leagues’ first African-American manager. to the absence of African-American managers in the majors. Donated by Frank Robinson VOTING RIGHTS ACT Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Abolishes literacy-test requirements and other discriminatory Not until 1975 did Frank Robinson break the manager’s color practices traditionally used to keep black citizens from registering to vote line, piloting the for three years. Over the Courtesy of National Baseball MALCOLM X ASSASSINATED Hall of Fame Library

years, and often outside the public eye, integration of baseball’s Three gunmen kill the civil rights leader at a speaking engagement in . executive offices and related businesses has remained an issue. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe and Jackie President Lyndon B. Johnson signs an Executive Order requiring Robinson pose on the dugout steps at the 1949 All-Star all government contractors and subcontractors to take Game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, . This was the “affirmative action” to expand job opportunities for minorities. first All-Star Game to feature black players on the roster. Courtesy of United Press International 1 9 6 6 1 9 6 6

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN SENATOR SINCE RECONSTRUCTION EMMETT ASHFORD First African-American in the major leagues Edward Brooke is elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. He is the first African-American senator since Reconstruction. ’ INDUCTION SPEECH

During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Ted Williams calls for BLACK PANTHER PARTY recognition of the great Negro league players and hopes they will Founded by black revolutionaries Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and Richard Aoki, some day be elected to the Hall of Fame. Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library the party promotes militant self- and black liberation. Courtesy of National Baseball Rangers windbreaker jacket belonging to Comer Cottrell, Jr., the first Hall of Fame Library 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. 1 9 6 7 Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum THURGOOD MARSHALL 1 9 7 0 The U.S. Senate approves President Lyndon Johnson’s nomination of CURT FLOOD Thurgood Marshall, making him the first black Supreme Court justice. After refusing to play for following a 1969 Handbill urging integration of the , CIVIL RIGHTS PROTESTS CONTINUE , Flood sues Major League distributed by the American Labor Party at Yankee , 1953 Thurgood Marshall Baseball in an effort to abolish In 1975, Frank Robinson made baseball history when he was chosen Two years after riots erupted in the Watts section of , Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library (Background Photo) Courtesy of Library by the Cleveland Indians as the major leagues' first African-American of Congress civil rights protests spread to northern cities where they sometimes After Jackie Robinson integrated the manager. Robinson excelled as a player as well in a 21- career. turn violent. Newark and experience major riots in July. ballfield itself, other areas of the game 1 9 7 1 He was the only player to win the Most Valuable Player award in both followed slowly. In some major league the National and American leagues and ranks in the top ten in career FIRST ALL-BLACK St. Louis Browns home jersey worn by , cities, black and white teammates 6G 6H LINEUP 6J 6F home runs. Robinson went on to manage the Giants, the 1952 6i could not stay in the same hotels or Donated by Lee MacPhail Orioles, the and the . On September 1, the Pittsburgh eat in the same restaurants. In the Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Pirates use the first all-black lineup in major league history.

1 9 6 8 SATCHEL PAIGE Larry Doby and Satchel Paige MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND F. KENNEDY Satchel Paige becomes the first player inducted into the Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience, a traveling exhibition for libraries, National Baseball Hall of Fame based solely on his ASSASSINATED performance in the Negro leagues.

was organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York, Senator Kennedy is shot following the Democratic Party primary for 1 9 7 4 In , the American League began integrating when Several Negro league owners, including Hall of Famer president just two months after the killing of Dr. King, the civil rights leader. and the American Library Association Public Programs Office, Chicago. The traveling exhibition has been made AARON Effa Manley, hoped that the Negro leagues would Former Negro league player and Braves star and the Cleveland Indians signed Larry Doby. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM Satchel Paige at his 1971 induction possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. passes as the career home Courtesy of National Baseball Doby would go on to lead the American League in home become formal minor leagues within the majors’ The citizens of New York’s 12th District, located in Brooklyn, record holder in major league history. Hall of Fame Library elect the first black woman to the U.S. Congress as a member runs with 32 in both 1952 and 1954. Though legendary organizational structure. Instead, the major leagues The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same on permanent display at the of the House of Representatives. MLB PARTICIPATION pitcher Satchel Paige was nearing 50 years old when signed only the strongest black players, leaving African Americans make up nearly one quarter of all National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. players on major league rosters, the height of black other players, experienced managers and black participation in baseball history. integration began, he still enjoyed a brief major league Shirley Chisolm Courtesy of Library of Congress 1 9 7 8 career, playing for both the Cleveland Indians and St. owners with no role in the integrated game. Manley AFFIRMATIVE ACTION UPHELD Louis Browns. He also appeared in one game for the and her husband owned the baseball 1 9 7 5 The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative action policies in the City Athletics in 1965. franchise in the Negro leagues from 1935 to 1946. Regents of the University of California V. Bakke decision. FRANK ROBINSON The majors’ first African-American field manager works for the Cleveland Indians from 1975 through 1977. He goes on to 1 9 8 3 manage San Francisco, Baltimore, Montreal and Washington. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY 1 9 8 4 New national holiday approved by the U.S. Congress, to begin in 1986 IN THE FRONT OFFICE Effa Manley The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum wishes to recognize the following for their The promote to vice president and Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library director of player personnel, making him the first African American to assistance in the development of this exhibit: head up front office operations for a major league club.

Jersey worn by Cleveland Indians Larry Doby, 1948 1 9 8 9 Loaned by the National Museum of American History, Dick Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. BILL WHITE Photo by Milo Stewart, Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Phil Dixon Dr. Lawrence Hogan A 13-year major league player, Bill White becomes president of the National League. Len Coleman, 1 9 9 2 Bill White John Holway another African American, succeeds him from 1994 to 1999. Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Larry Lester CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN COMER COTTRELL JR. First African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate Comer Cottrell, Jr. becomes part-owner of the , making him the first African American to partially Mary Quinn, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum OS NGELES IOTS Gretchen S. Sorin L A R own a major league team. After four white police officers are found not guilty of using excessive force in the videotaped beating of African-American 1 9 9 2 The Hall of Fame would also like to thank Rodney King, riots erupt in Los Angeles. for funding the Museum’s study on African-American baseball from 1860 to 1960, ’s Cito Gaston is the first African-American manager to lead conducted by the Negro Leagues Researchers & Authors Group from 2001 to 2005. 1 9 9 5 his team to a World Series victory.

MILLION MAN MARCH Cito Gaston 1 9 9 3 Courtesy of National Baseball This Washington, D.C. rally seeks to strengthen the family Hall of Fame Library and challenge negative images of African-American men. FIRST BLACK

Bob Watson is promoted to GM by the Astros, becoming the first black man to this post in the major leagues. 2 0 0 1 Three years later he wins a World Series as Yankees GM.

GENERAL COLIN POWELL 1 9 9 7

Colin Powell becomes U.S. Secretary of State, the first JACKIE ROBINSON’S RETIRED African American appointed to this high political office. PRIDE & Robinson’s number “42” is retired throughout all levels of professional Courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame Library baseball, an honor never before bestowed on any player.

The African-American Baseball Experience 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 5

ROSA PARKS DIES BLACK PARTICIPATION DECLINES The civil rights pioneer is the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. African-American participation in . the majors is down to 6K 6L 6M 6N nine percent, the lowest since 6o