They Played for the Love of the Game Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball Frank M
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“Good Grief!” RAMSEY COUNTY Said Charlie Brown: The Business of Death in Bygone St. Paul Moira F. Harris and Leo J. Harris A Publication of the Ramsey County Historical Society —Page 14 Spring 2010 Volume 44, Number 4 They Played for the Love of the Game Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball Frank M. White Page 3 John Cotton, left, was an outstanding athlete and second baseman for the Twin City Gophers, his Marshall Senior High School team, and other professional teams in the 1940s and ’50s. He and Lloyd “Dulov” Hogan, right, and the other unidentified player in this photo were part of the thriving black baseball scene in Minnesota in the middle of the twentieth century. Photo courtesy of the Cotton family. Photo restoration by Lori Gleason. RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY RAMSEY COUNTY Executive Director Priscilla Farnham Founding Editor (1964–2006) Virginia Brainard Kunz Editor Hıstory John M. Lindley Volume 45, Number 1 Spring 2010 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON DECEMBER 20, 2007: Thomas H. Boyd The Ramsey County Historical Society inspires current and future generations President Paul A. Verret to learn from and value their history by engaging in a diverse program First Vice President of presenting, publishing and preserving. Joan Higinbotham Second Vice President Julie Brady Secretary C O N T E N T S Carolyn J. Brusseau Treasurer 3 They Played for the Love of the Game Norlin Boyum, Anne Cowie, Nancy Randall Dana, Cheryl Dickson, Charlton Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball Dietz, Joanne A. Englund, William Frels, Howard Guthmann, John Holman, Frank M. White Kenneth R. Johnson, Elizabeth M. Kiernat, Rev. Kevin M. McDonough, Susan McNeely, 14 “Good Grief!” Said Charlie Brown Debra Mitts Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, Richard H. Nicholson, Marla Ordway, Jay The Business of Death in Bygone St. Paul Pfaender, Jeffrey Slack, Ralph Thrane, Richard Wilhoit. Moira F. Harris and Leo J. Harris Directors Emeriti W. Andrew Boss 25 Book Reviews George A. Mairs Richard T. Murphy Sr. EDITORIAL BOARD Publication of Ramsey County History is supported in part by a gift from Anne Cowie, chair, James B. Bell, Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen in memory of Henry H. Cowie Jr. Thomas H. Boyd, John Diers, John Milton, Debra Mitts Smith, Laurie M. Murphy, and by a contribution from the late Reuel D. Harmon Paul D. Nelson, Richard H. Nicholson, Jay Pfaender, David Riehle, G. Richard Slade, Steve Trimble, Mary Lethert Wingerd. HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD A Message from the Editorial Board William Fallon, William Finney, Robert S. Hess, George Latimer, Joseph S. Micallef, Marvin J. Pertzik, James Reagan, istory reminds us of change in a vivid way. Just a few decades ago, de facto Rosalie E. Wahl. Hsegregation reigned even in the North, and black players could not play base- RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ball in white leagues. Frank White presents a valuable account of the talented Commissioner Jan Parker, chair Commissioner Tony Bennett St. Paul players who joined the Negro Leagues, barnstorming in the 1930s through Commissioner Toni Carter Commissioner Jim McDonough 1950s and staying in private homes because they were not welcome in many pub- Commissioner Rafael Ortega lic accommodations. After Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt Commissioner Janice Rettman major leagues in 1947, black players still found St. Paul to be a valuable training ground, which could act as a steppingstone to playing major league baseball. Also Julie Kleinschmidt, manager, Ramsey County in this issue, Moira F. and Leo G. Harris explore the business of death in the late Ramsey County History is published quarterly nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using primary source material, they have by the Ramsey County Historical Society, documented such customs as long funeral processions, mourning cards, and the 323 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. advent of ready-made coffins when railroad traffic could bring them to the Twin Paul, MN 55102 (651-222-0701). Printed in U.S.A. Copy right © 2010, Ram sey County Cities. Elaborate funeral customs may have reflected the reality of earlier death, His torical So ciety. ISSN Number 0485-9758. when disease and accidents cut short the lives of many Ramsey County residents. All rights reserved. No part of this publica- tion may be reprinted or otherwise repro- But these traditions have a graceful legacy in the headstones of Oakland and Cal- duced without written permission from the vary Cemeteries, which are well worth a visit even after the tributes and ceremo- publisher. The Society assumes no respon- nies that mark Memorial Day. sibility for state ments made by contributors. Fax 651-223-8539; e-mail address: admin@ rchs.com; web site address: www.rchs.com Anne Cowie, Chair, Editorial Board 2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY They Played for the Love of the Game Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball Frank M. White Thanks to Frank White, who collaborated with Mollie Spillman, curator and archivist, of recognition for their accomplishments and William Peterson, research coordinator, the Ramsey County Historical Society that resulted from the color of their skin. opened an exhibit at the Landmark Center in St. Paul on February 25 titled “They Their absence from baseball history until Played for the Love of the Game: Adding to the Legacy of Minnesota Black Baseball.” recently is communicated throughout The exhibit runs through August 20, 2010, and is free and open to the public. In this the exhibit in their own words and in the article, Frank White expands and comments on the themes of the exhibit and its mean- words of those who knew them. Their ing for Minnesotans.1 participation was denied due to racism; not their ability to play. What they expe magine you woke up one morning, ate breakfast or had your cup of coffee, rienced while playing baseball is a reflec showered, dressed and went to work. Upon arrival you were told to enter tion of the troubled history of race rela Iby the back door! Or because you had blue eyes, you couldn’t work there tions in the United States. anymore. Setting the Stage: Separate but Not Equal Most of us couldn’t even imagine that set would be met. There had already been Following the end of the Civil War, the of circumstances. I can. many complaints that African Americans Congress passed three amendments to the Prior to enrolling as a student at the could not even get general labor positions U.S. Constitution that established condi University of Minnesota in the fall of in the construction trades because the tions under which the defeated states of 1968, I was fresh out of the U.S. Air Force black applicants for these jobs lacked the the Confederacy could be readmitted to and I needed a job to help make some “skilled labor experience” that other ap the Union. The Thirteenth Amendment money to attend school. So I made contact plicants supposedly had. (1865) outlawed slavery; however it did with Charles Simmer, the former princi My comment to this man was, “Who not provide for equal rights or citizen pal of my St. Paul high school, Mechanic do you think I am?” For sure, I wasn’t a ship. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) Arts. He suggested that I seek an intern Nigger. But my father was African Amer granted African Americans citizenship. ship with the electrical contractors union. ican. Of course when the site supervisor The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in I accepted the internship because I could took a look at my features, he had mis 1870, stated that race, color, or previous make some money for the summer, but taken my heritage. Perhaps he thought I condition of servitude could not be used my real goal was going to the U of M to was Mexican (my mother was Mexican) to deprive a man of the right to vote. pursue what I wanted to be, not what “Us or Native American. Whatever the reason, Against this background of constitu Negro people should be”—skilled with he began to stutter and stammer but never tional legislation, allblack baseball teams their hands; not with their minds. really gave an answer. I left for lunch that had been playing each other since 1860, I was given an assignment to work as day and never went back. It was clear I mainly in East Coast and Middle Atlantic an apprentice electrician at a work site on wasn’t even welcome to be an apprentice states. Despite racial prejudice following St. Anthony and Virginia streets. I walked electrician at this workplace, which was the Civil War, African Americans had also to the site and was greeted by the super only a half block from one of my child played on minor and major league teams visor, whose first comment was, “Phew, hood homes. until about 1890. On July 14, 1887, Cap we thought they were going to send one Here in Minnesota and the Twin Cities, Anson’s Chicago White Stockings refused, of those ‘niggers’ down here.” denial and Jim Crow was a reality. however, to play the Newark Giants of the Not long before my encounter with International League because the Giants this supervisor, members of the Rondo Untold Story roster included two African American ball community had challenged the changes The exhibit that Ramsey County players, Fleet Walker and George Stovey. going on. They wanted to make sure Historical Society has mounted is a trib The Newark team benched Walker and all the promises of jobs that would be ute to everyday people who were also Stovey, but later that same day, the owners brought on by the construction of the sec special athletes.