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Articles 1 - 30 of 56
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 …
William Lewis Eagleson And The Origins Of African American Newspapers In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle
William Lewis Eagleson And The Origins Of African American Newspapers In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
From July to November 1876, Reverend Thomas W. Henderson of the A.M.E. Church, edited a newspaper (“campaign paper”) in Leavenworth and Lawrence, Kansas named the Colored Radical. The following year in Fort Scott, Kansas, William L. Eagleson edited a newspaper named the Colored Citizen. While these were the first two African American newspapers published in the state, both were printed by the white publishers in Lawrence and Fort Scott. In February 1878, William and his brother, James, purchased their own printing equipment and restarted publication of the Colored Citizen, making it the first newspaper in Kansas written, …
“What’S In A Name?" Baseball Goes To Town In 1886, Mark E. Eberle
“What’S In A Name?" Baseball Goes To Town In 1886, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
In 1886, the St. Louis Browns of the American Association defeated the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) of the National League in a postseason series, the only time an American Association club won the series played from 1884 to 1890. Also in 1886, the Missouri Pacific railroad organized the construction of a rail line in Kansas from Council Grove through Osage City to Ottawa. To commemorate the Browns’ season, the Missouri Pacific named two new stations after Browns’ players: Bushong in Lyon County and Comiskey in Morris County. Albert “Doc” Bushong was a catcher for the Browns, and …
Alfred “Army” Cooper: A Baseball Career With The 25th Infantry, Negro Leagues, And Tournament Teams, Mark E. Eberle
Alfred “Army” Cooper: A Baseball Career With The 25th Infantry, Negro Leagues, And Tournament Teams, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Lefthanded pitcher Alfred “Army” Cooper was born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1899 and had a long career with Black baseball clubs between the First and Second World Wars. He played baseball while serving with the 25th US Infantry Regiment in Nogales, Arizona during most of the 1920s. After his discharge in February 1928, he pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League until 1930. The following year, he played for several weeks with Gilkerson’s Union Giants, a prominent barnstorming team, before rejoining the independent Kansas City Monarchs as they barnstormed through the end of the summer. …
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 …
Carson City Mints A Base Ball Club, 1869–1870, Mark E. Eberle
Carson City Mints A Base Ball Club, 1869–1870, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Baseball clubs had been organized in Nevada since at least 1866, but the organization of the Silver Star Base Ball Club (BBC) in Carson City in 1869 marked a change for the sport in the state. Some of the employees at the newly constructed Carson City Mint had experience playing for top ball clubs in the East, and other experienced ballplayers lived in the nearby mining community of Virginia City. The Silver City and Virginia ball clubs initiated intercity competition in 1869. In 1870, the Silver Star BBC picked up players from the Virginia BBC and played six games on …
Baseball Career Of Andy Cooper In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle
Baseball Career Of Andy Cooper In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Andrew Lewis Cooper was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. He was a lefthanded pitcher, who played and managed in the Negro Leagues from 1920 until his death in 1941, mostly for the Detroit Stars and Kansas City Monarchs. Cooper also played baseball in California, Cuba, and the Far East. However, his life before 1920 has been little studied. Andy Cooper was born in Texas, probably in 1897. Although he was a resident of Waco and began playing baseball in northern Texas, contemporary newspaper reports document an African American pitcher from Texas named Andrew “Lefty” Cooper …
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 …
Memories: The Crew Of The Uss Abner Read Dd-526 (Second Edition), Mary Elizabeth Downing-Turner, Michael Davis
Memories: The Crew Of The Uss Abner Read Dd-526 (Second Edition), Mary Elizabeth Downing-Turner, Michael Davis
Monographs
Memories: The Crew of the USS Abner Read DD-526 captures the experiences of sailors who served aboard the USS Abner Read. Collected over the course of decade, this collection features more than 120 interviews with sailors who fought aboard the Abner Read during the War in the Pacific. First-hand accounts of life on the ship, the incident at Kiska, and the sinking of the ship during the Battle of Leyte Gulf all feature prominently in this edited volume. There are amusing anecdotes, mundane details, and graphic descriptions of the horrors of war. Though only in service for twenty-one months, …
Baseball Takes Root In Oregon, 1866‒1869, Mark E. Eberle
Baseball Takes Root In Oregon, 1866‒1869, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The first baseball club in the Pacific Northwest was organized in Portland, Oregon in 1866 as the Pioneer Base Ball Club. As the only club in the area, games were initially played between teams picked from the members of the club. The Clackamas BBC in Oregon City was organized later that year, and the first intercity baseball game was played between the first nines of these two clubs in Oregon City on October 13. The following year, numerous baseball clubs were organized, and the first baseball championship was held at the State Fair in Salem. In addition, a regional baseball …
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 …
Promoting Good Roads: Basketball And Baseball On The Red Line Road In 1915, Mark E. Eberle
Promoting Good Roads: Basketball And Baseball On The Red Line Road In 1915, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The first good road associations in Kansas with an interest in interstate travel were organized in 1910–1914. Construction of roads in rural Kansas was seen as a benefit to farmers and ranchers and to towns trying to attract visitors as automobiles and cross-country trips became more common. Initially, most of these efforts were implemented by counties and other local entities, with volunteers making substantial contributions. Most of these early routes were marked by colored bands painted on telegraph and telephone poles. Thus, they were sometimes known by names such as the Red Line Road or Golden Belt Road. These two …
Scott Joplin, Ragtime, And Baseball In Sedalia, Missouri In 1900, Mark E. Eberle
Scott Joplin, Ragtime, And Baseball In Sedalia, Missouri In 1900, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Scott Joplin first achieved recognition as a composer with the publication of his Maple Leaf Rag in Sedalia, Missouri in 1899. A few months later, a Sedalia newspaper reported that Joplin and fellow musician Henry Jackson organized the Shortridge-Robb baseball club. The club planned to host a team from Kansas City at Liberty Park in Sedalia on 4 August 1900. Nothing else was published about the team in surviving Sedalia newspapers. This monograph examines the circumstances surrounding the organization of the Shortridge-Robb baseball club in an attempt to ascertain why it was organized and whether it played any games.
Early Football In Abilene, Kansas, From Lott To Eisenhower, 1891–1910, Mark E. Eberle
Early Football In Abilene, Kansas, From Lott To Eisenhower, 1891–1910, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
During the late nineteenth century, the name “football” could refer to early versions of soccer, rugby, or American football. In 1891, the city of Concordia, Kansas even had a women’s football team, who probably played soccer (association football). However, American football soon dominated interest in Kansas. Given the likelihood of injury and the organized practice time and coaching necessary, communities were slow to take up American football during the early years of the sport. Consequently, few games were played against teams from other communities. Another monograph summarized the history of football in Kansas through 1891 and the beginning of intercollegiate …
Baseball Takes Root In Kansas, Colorado, And Nebraska, Mark E. Eberle
Baseball Takes Root In Kansas, Colorado, And Nebraska, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The spread of baseball during the mid-nineteenth century is sometimes associated with soldiers and former soldiers who served during the US Civil War. This association is partly true in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. However, white settlers from the Northeast and Midwest also brought baseball and similar ball games to the region before the Civil War began, and civilians played ball throughout the war. The first team organized in the region was the Denver Base Ball Club in March 1862, although the team disbanded as warmer weather permitted mining activity to resume. Increasing numbers of baseball clubs were organized in Colorado, …
Baseball Takes Root In New Mexico, 1867–1883, Mark E. Eberle
Baseball Takes Root In New Mexico, 1867–1883, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
The first known baseball club in New Mexico was organized in Santa Fe in 1867 as the Santa Fe Base Ball Club. As the only club in the area, games were initially played between teams picked from the club’s members. In November 1868, the Bradley BBC at Fort Union in northeastern New Mexico challenged the Santa Fe BBC to a game. Given the distance between Santa Fe and Fort Union, they met for the game in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, the game was postponed two days because of snow. This was the first known baseball …
Captain George W. Bradley, A.Q.M., And The Bradley Base Ball Clubs, Mark E. Eberle
Captain George W. Bradley, A.Q.M., And The Bradley Base Ball Clubs, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
George W. Bradley served as a quartermaster for the New York Volunteers during the US Civil War. After the war, he became an assistant quartermaster (A.Q.M.) in the regular army with the rank of captain. Captain Bradley served at several posts, mostly in the West. While serving at Fort Harker, Kansas in 1867 and at Fort Union, New Mexico in 1868, teams from the forts organized teams they named the Bradley Base Ball Club (BBC). In Kansas, the Bradley BBC defeated the Smoky Hill BBC from Ellsworth, but in New Mexico, they lost to the Santa Fe BBC in a …
“Foot Ball Seems To Be Usurping The Place Of Base Ball.” Football In Kansas, 1856–1891, Mark E. Eberle
“Foot Ball Seems To Be Usurping The Place Of Base Ball.” Football In Kansas, 1856–1891, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Following the US Civil War, baseball quickly spread among communities across Kansas. Football was less widespread, and the first reports of “foot ball” during this period referred to early versions of association football (soccer) or rugby. American football developed from modifications to rugby rules beginning in the late 1870s and continuing into the early twentieth century. A few Kansas communities experimented briefly with soccer, rugby, and American football teams based on the model of town team baseball. However, interest in American football soon dominated, with attention focused on collegiate teams. The first intercollegiate games in Kansas were played in the …
Everyone Wore Masks: Winter Baseball During The Flu Pandemic Of 1918-1919, Mark E. Eberle
Everyone Wore Masks: Winter Baseball During The Flu Pandemic Of 1918-1919, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Efforts to control the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 were in the hands of local officials, creating a mosaic of regulations. Among the aspects of society affected by these regulations were organized sports, which attracted large groups of people that could contribute to the spread of the disease. Infection rates were highest during the cooler months, so baseball was largely unaffected. However, southern California had an active winter baseball season that attracted major league players, who earned money by playing for teams such as the Pasadena Merchants. Pasadena and the Standard-Murphy team from the oil field region near Whittier were in …
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 …
Early Baseball Career Of Carl Mays In Oklahoma, Kansas, And Utah, Mark E. Eberle
Early Baseball Career Of Carl Mays In Oklahoma, Kansas, And Utah, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Carl Mays was a successful submarine (underhand) pitcher in the major leagues from 1915 through 1929 with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants. He pitched in four World Series. He had 207 wins and 126 losses, with an earned run average of 2.92. His on-field credentials place him among the best pitchers of the time, yet Mays has not been enshrined with his peers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mays had a reputation for pitching inside when batters crowded the plate, and he consequently hit 89 men during his 15-year major …
George William Castone: An Integrated Baseball Life At The Close Of The Nineteenth Century, Mark E. Eberle
George William Castone: An Integrated Baseball Life At The Close Of The Nineteenth Century, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
George William Castone was a black baseball player during the 1880s and 1890s. He pitched for integrated town teams and minor league teams, as well as black clubs, such as the Lincoln Giants in Nebraska and the Cuban Giants in the northeastern United States. Most of his time on the diamond was spent in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, but Castone also played on an otherwise white barnstorming team organized in Salt Lake City that traveled through Montana, Oregon, and California. He was among the few black players on minor league teams in the Colorado State League in 1889 and the …
Toward A Black Baseball League For Kansas City, 1890–1916: Proposals And Challenges, Mark E. Eberle
Toward A Black Baseball League For Kansas City, 1890–1916: Proposals And Challenges, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Studies of Negro Leagues baseball from 1920 through the 1950s address various aspects of the organization and operation of the leagues, and provide portraits of the teams, players, and other prominent individuals. However, there were earlier attempts by black teams to organize leagues during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Given the many proposed and short-lived black leagues prior to 1920, the focus of this monograph is the proposals that included clubs from Kansas City. None of the leagues proposed before the First World War survived beyond its inaugural season, but the number of proposals offered over three decades reflects …
Who’S On First? Kansas City’S Female Baseball Stars, 1899–1929, Mark E. Eberle
Who’S On First? Kansas City’S Female Baseball Stars, 1899–1929, Mark E. Eberle
Monographs
Although female players were typically excluded from formal baseball teams, teams consisting entirely or partly of female players were organized across the country as early as the mid-1800s. The first female baseball club in Kansas and adjacent states was organized in Wichita in 1873. These early teams predated the arrival of the barnstorming teams with female players and usually one or more male players, who were sometimes disguised as women. Female players on most of these early traveling teams wore bloomers, and the teams were referred to as “bloomer girls.” Women on later teams wore traditional baseball uniforms and objected …