The History of the Negro Leagues An Interview with Negro League Pitcher Ernest Burke By M. Bryan February 9, 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF PURPOSE BIOGRAPHY HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION, INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION INTERVIEW ANALYSIS WORKS CONSULTED STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The purpose of this Negro League oral history project is to examine a neglected piece of baseball history. Understanding the impact that the Negro League players had on baseball is vital to understanding sports history in America. Attaining knowledge of the athletic feats and personal sacrifice of the thousands of black baseball players who played in the Negro Leagues from the late 1880's to early 1950's adds to the collective memory and highlights the pain of the unyielding forces of segregation in America. The purpose of the interview with Mr. Ernest Burke, a Negro League pitcher, is to gain primary knowledge of this generation of athletes who, despite being forced to play on segregated fields, were determined to exhibit their talent, courage and passion to play the game of baseball. TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHY Ernest Burke was born in 1924 in a small town called Harve de Grace, Maryland. As the son of the only black family in town, he played with the French Canadian children in his neighborhood. Mr. Burke never knew his father. His mother died when he was ten years old. He dug his mother's grave and attended her funeral in clothes that a white family loaned him. As an orphan, Mr. Burke struggled to survive on rotten bananas and hard bread. Later, a French Canadian family took him to Canada and raised him. From the mid 1930's through 1942, this family loved and nurtured him. He attended school in Canada through the seventh grade. Mr. Burke returned to the United States to enlist in World War II in 1942. As one of the Corps' first black Marines, he fought in Guam in the Pacific. He earned a medal as a Sharp Shooter and his discharge papers noted his "excellent character." It was during his time in the Marines at Montford Point, North Carolina, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands that Mr. Burke first experienced insults, racial slurs and discrimination. During his last six months as a Marine, Mr. Burke first played the game of baseball. He was a hard-throwing, accurate pitcher. During a baseball game in 1946, Johnny Rigney, a Seabee and former White Sox pitcher, encouraged Mr. Burke to join the Negro League. Mr. Burke played for the Baltimore Elite Giants from 1946 to 1949 and earned a 4-1 record in his last year in Baltimore. After leaving Baltimore, Mr. Burke played minor league baseball as an outfielder and third baseman for Pough-Kingston in the Western League and St. Jean in the Canadian Province League. At 6 feet 1 inch, 180 pounds, Mr. Burke posted a 15-3 pitching record in 1950. He continued to play ball until 1956. He played with and against some of the greatest Negro League players like Henry Kimbro, Jim Giliam, Pee Wee Butts, Joe Black, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby and Montie Irvin. After his baseball career, Mr. Burke played semi-pro football as a fullback. He worked for twenty years as a heavy equipment tester for Henry J. Knott Construction Co. in Baltimore. After he retired in 1986, he became a tennis pro. Because of a leg injury, he stopped playing and teaching tennis in 2000. Mr. Burke was married for a short time after his career in the Marines. Although he had no biological children, he raised three children. He remarried in 1999. Mr. Burke and his wife, Sandy, enjoyed maintaining Mr. Burke's voluminous memorabilia collection at their home in Pikesville, Maryland. He spent his retirement speaking at many schools and community organizations about the Negro Leagues and his life experience. The Smithsonian Institute, Baltimore City Council, 41st Marine Corps, Senior Olympics and other political and civic organizations have honored him. Mr. Burke died from cancer surgery complications on January 31, 2004. TABLE OF CONTENTS HISTORICAL CONTEXTUALIZATION Professional Black Baseball in Segregated America “Play Ball!” Today, all Americans can relate to these words as they signify that a baseball game is about to begin. People all over the world love and play baseball, America’s national pastime. This game is passed down from father to son and generation to generation. Baseball history is rich with stories of legendary folklore, feats of individual physical athleticism, and amazing team accomplishments. Baseball creates a special bond between all ages, all social classes, and all ethnic groups. Today, this sport creates, “a level playing field of dreams” (Riley xix) for any athlete with the passion and skill to play this game. Unfortunately, for many decades, the playing field was not accessible to thousands of skilled players. Baseball history has neglected and ignored the stories of the players who played in the Negro Leagues from the late 1880's to early 1950's. These talented baseball players did not play in recognized leagues, never earned the big money, were rarely discussed in the sports pages, and endured humiliating segregated playing and living conditions. By exploring their history, the national pastime can recover its “lost soul” (Riley xix). To have a complete understanding of baseball sports history, it is necessary to understand the unique style and flavor of a generation of talented, courageous, and determined men who spent extraordinary careers in the "shadows" of the world of black baseball during the era of American segregation. The passion and determination of these men not only changed baseball but also changed America. Historical texts trace racism and black injustices all the way back to 1619 when the first slave ship from Africa arrived in Jamestown, Virginia with twenty “black indentured servants” (Franklin 65). As the thirteen colonies emerged and gradually gained their independence from Great Britain, they continued to statutorily recognize slavery. Slavery lasted until December 1865 when Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery (Franklin 244). However, during the next thirty years, during the Reconstruction Period, white Americans continued to treat and think of blacks as an inferior race while creating new forms of slavery. The Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, lynchings, the KKK, and the Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, that upheld segregation by stating that blacks were entitled to “separate but equal” treatment, continued to enslave blacks (Franklin 248-290). Northern and southern politicians entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” that began with the Compromise of 1877 and lasted until the late 1930's. This political agreement ensured “white solidarity on the issue of race” and abandoned civil rights for blacks (Tafari 1). While the twentieth century began with “214 lynchings in the first two years” and racial tension was high (Franklin 291), many prominent black figures emerged such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, and Marcus Garvey. Each of these leaders used radically different techniques from angry protests to poetic dissertations on racism and segregation. Most "did not seek to subvert American constitutional government ... not so much revolting as they were protesting the unjust operation of the system" (Franklin 403). They were aware of the social problems and wanted to make changes to gain equal opportunity and respect. World War I and the Great Migration of blacks from the south to northern cities energized blacks. Confident and impatient, blacks came together politically, artistically and socially during the period from 1920- 1930 that included the Harlem Renaissance. This cultural and political renaissance unleashed the great talents that blacks possessed. Black artisans produced great works of art, literature, and music that both white and black audiences valued. These black artisans refused to let racism and discrimination deter them from leading productive lives (Franklin 401-417). After WWII (1939- 1945), many blacks began to question why they were fighting for a country promoting equality and democracy while they experienced lynchings, riots, and discrimination. Finally, in 1954, the Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, overturned the “separate but equal” decision, and blacks began to gain political and educational equality (Franklin 453). During the period 1954 through the 1960's, numerous events and people spurred on the Civil Rights movement, and blacks continued their struggle for social, political, and economic equality. Although racism exists today, blacks have made progress and have gained respect through their political, economic, scientific, athletic, and artistic contributions. The lives of blacks who played baseball in the segregated Negro Leagues during 1880's through 1950's reflect the bitter experiences, self-sacrifice and human progress that blacks experienced in many parts of American life. The game of baseball emerged before the Civil War (1861-1865). In 1842, Alexander Cartwright met with a group of individuals regularly, and they began to play baseball in Hoboken, New Jersey. Three years later, they formed a social baseball club, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York. Cartwright was instrumental in creating baseball rules for club ball (Baseball: Invention 1). Although in the early 1900s, a national baseball panel recognized Abner Doubleday as baseball's creator, historians at the National Baseball Library in Cooperstown, New York stated that Cartwright's rules were the true beginning of organized baseball (Helgesen 1). During the Civil War, both Northern and Southern armies enjoyed playing the game. After the war ended, the game spread and started to become a “civilian pastime” (LaBlanc 521). Many newly freed blacks also enjoyed the game and began forming all-black teams in northern cities such as Brooklyn and Philadelphia. In 1867, members from these all-black teams sent representatives to meetings with the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), an organization of over three hundred teams.