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Full-Text Articles in History
Bud Fowler Beyond The Box Score, Mark E. Eberle
Bud Fowler Beyond The Box Score, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
John W. Jackson, better known as Bud Fowler (1858–1913), was a Black baseball player, captain, manager, umpire, organizer, and promoter. He was also a barber, playwright, and song writer. His baseball career spanned at least 33 years, from 1877 to 1909. In 1878, Fowler became the first known Black baseball player in the major or minor leagues, and he went on to play for a total of 20 minor league clubs and numerous other teams with rosters composed predominantly of white ballplayers during the era of racial segregation. He played for teams from New England to southern California and from …
Integrated Baseball In Ohio, 1883-1900: Sol White And Richard Male, Mark E. Eberle
Integrated Baseball In Ohio, 1883-1900: Sol White And Richard Male, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Two essays amend and expand what has been published about two Ohio natives who played baseball in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the sport became increasingly segregated. The first essay clarifies the early years of Sol White, a Black ballplayer from Bellaire, Ohio, who played on integrated amateur teams in his hometown beginning in 1883, as well as the integrated first nine in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1886-1887 and the segregated Pittsburgh Keystones in 1887-1888. About this same time, Richard Male, who was born in Columbus but was a longtime resident of Cleveland, played under the pseudonym …
George H. Taylor: From Colorado To The Pinnacle Of Black Baseball, Mark E. Eberle
George H. Taylor: From Colorado To The Pinnacle Of Black Baseball, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
George H. Taylor was a Black baseball player born in Kansas but raised in Denver, Colorado, where he learned to play the game. From the 1880s to 1894, he played primarily for integrated teams in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, and Iowa, including minor league clubs in Aspen, Colorado and Beatrice, Nebraska. Taylor was also invited to play for otherwise white teams in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Ogden, Utah after they saw him play on visiting teams from Denver. From 1895 to 1907, Taylor mostly played for Black teams in Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota, including the Page Fence Giants, Leland Giants, and …
Integrated Baseball In Ohio, 1891–1907: Chavous, Harrison, Fountain, And Follis., Mark E. Eberle
Integrated Baseball In Ohio, 1891–1907: Chavous, Harrison, Fountain, And Follis., Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
In addition to Moses Fleetwood Walker, Welday (Weldy) Walker, John “Bud” Fowler, and Grant “Home Run” Johnson, other Black baseball players were members of integrated teams involved in intercity competition in Ohio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when racial segregation was widespread. The experiences of four of these players are described. James Chavous was a native of Marysville who pitched for Marysville and several other teams, including the Page Fence Giants. In 1904, an injury to his hand limited his role on the diamond to serving as an umpire, primarily in games between white teams. Edward Webster …
John W. "Bud" Fowler In Colorado, California, And Ohio, Mark E. Eberle
John W. "Bud" Fowler In Colorado, California, And Ohio, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
John W. Jackson Jr., better known as John W. “Bud” Fowler (1858–1913), was a Black baseball player, captain, manager, umpire, and promoter. His baseball career spanned at least 33 years, from 1877 to 1909. In 1878, Fowler became the first known Black baseball player in the major or minor leagues, and he went on to play for a total of 18 minor league clubs with rosters composed predominantly of white ballplayers during the era of racial segregation. He played for numerous teams from New England to southern California and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, he …
Early Integrated Baseball In Missouri, Mark E. Eberle
Early Integrated Baseball In Missouri, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Beginning in the years before the US Civil War, African Americans fled or emigrated from the South to northern and western states and territories. Descendants of these emigrants occasionally had the opportunity to play baseball for predominantly white town teams and minor league clubs prior to 1946 under circumstances documented in states such as Kansas and California. Those same opportunities were virtually nonexistent in states where slavery had been legal at the outset of the Civil War. A few instances of integrated baseball teams involved in intercity competition in Missouri, a border state that remained in the Union, have been …
Black Pioneers Of Integrated Baseball In California, Mark E. Eberle
Black Pioneers Of Integrated Baseball In California, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Black athletes were barred from playing baseball in the major and minor leagues, as well as other teams of white players, with relatively few exceptions. Research on baseball’s color line has primarily focused on organized baseball (the major and minor leagues). The nine essays in this monograph are an introductory exploration of integrated baseball in California at various levels, from amateur to professional teams. The first six essays are biographies of seven Black ballplayers who played on predominantly white teams engaged in intercity competition for multiple years from 1886 to 1909. The seventh …
Integrated Baseball In Kansas During The Sport's Era Of Segregation, Mark E. Eberle
Integrated Baseball In Kansas During The Sport's Era Of Segregation, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Black athletes were barred from playing baseball in the major and minor leagues prior to 1946 with few exceptions. The implementation of the color line in organized baseball during the nineteenth century has been the focus of thorough research. Less studied is integrated baseball among independent town teams, and this research has focused on particular players or circumstances rather than an entire state or region across a broad span of baseball history. Integrated teams in Kansas provide a unique opportunity to examine their history at these larger scales. Prior to 1946, major league baseball was essentially concentrated east of the …
Crossing Baseball’S Color Line: Javan Emory, Jacob Francis, Hershel Schnebly, And Howard Molden, Mark E. Eberle
Crossing Baseball’S Color Line: Javan Emory, Jacob Francis, Hershel Schnebly, And Howard Molden, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
This set of three essays describes the careers of Black baseball players and umpires who dealt with a color line that barred them from participating with most teams of white players prior to the mid-twentieth century. The first essay — Javan Isaac Emory: Multiple Trips across Baseball’s Color Line — tells the story of Emory’s playing career during the late nineteenth century with integrated and segregated teams at several levels in Pennsylvania, from town teams to professional leagues. The second essay — Jacob B. Francis: Organized Baseball’s First Black Umpire — recounts the story of the first Black umpire in …
Baseball’S Color Line In Kansas Andthe Chanute Black Diamonds Of 1904–1906, Mark E. Eberle
Baseball’S Color Line In Kansas Andthe Chanute Black Diamonds Of 1904–1906, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The major and minor leagues excluded black baseball players for most of their history until Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1946 and 1947. However, at the local level, the color line was not always so absolute. Town teams were occasionally integrated, and segregated teams played each other, sometimes with the local championship on the line. Among the small towns where this occurred was Chanute, Kansas, where a black ball club named the Chanute Black Diamonds was first organized in 1900. From 1904 through 1906, the Black Diamonds assembled a team of the best players from Chanute and nearby …
Topeka Enters The Minor Leagues, 1886–1887: Bud Fowler And Goldsby’S Golden Giants, Mark E. Eberle
Topeka Enters The Minor Leagues, 1886–1887: Bud Fowler And Goldsby’S Golden Giants, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The first minor league baseball teams in Kansas represented Topeka and Leavenworth as members of the Western League in 1886 and 1887. The 1886 Topeka Base Ball Club was an integrated team, featuring Bud Fowler at second base for all but the final eight games of the season. Although Black ballplayers were generally excluded from playing on minor league or major league clubs prior to 1946, Fowler was a fan favorite in Topeka and the team’s leading hitter. The team finished fourth among the six teams. In 1887, the Topeka Base Ball Association hired Walton Goldsby to manage the club …
Evans’ All-Nations And Mayetta Indians Baseball, 1917, Mark E. Eberle
Evans’ All-Nations And Mayetta Indians Baseball, 1917, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
On 4 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and prepared to enter what would later be referred to as the First World War. Those preparations would last through the summer, as many young men spent one last season playing baseball before leaving for Europe. Among these teams in northeastern Kansas were two local teams not composed solely of white players. The Evans’ All-Nations was an integrated team in Horton composed of white, black, American Indian, and possibly Mexican players. Jesse Evans, a local black barber, managed the team. About 25 miles southwest of Horton, on the Prairie …