People, Locations, Episodes

Willie Davis, Football Player and Businessman born

*Willie Davis was born on this date in 1934. He was a Black professional football player and businessman.   William Delford Davis was from Lisbon, La. He was 8 when his parents separated, and he moved with his mother and two younger siblings to Texarkana, Ark. His mother was a cook at a country club. Young Davis earned […]

Roberto Clemente, Baseball Player born

*On this date in 1934, Roberto Clemente was born. He was a Black Puerto Rican baseball player and humanitarian.

Elgin Baylor, Basketball Player, and Coach born

*Elgin Baylor was born on this date in 1934. He was a Black professional basketball player, coach, and executive. Elgin Gay Baylor was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Uzziel (Lewis) and John Wesley Baylor. He began playing basketball when he was 14. Although he grew up near a D.C. city recreation center, Blacks […]

College Footballs ‘Floyd of Rosedale,’ a story

*On this date in 1934 the Floyd of Rosedale trophy story began. This is a football game and rivalry between the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota that began over racism between the schools.

Floyd Patterson, Boxer born

Floyd Patterson was born on this date in 1935. He was an African American boxer.

From a poor family in Waco, N.C., he was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Patterson was one of eleven children and an insular and troubled child. Always skipping school and getting caught stealing, he was sent to New York City’s Wiltwyck reform school at aged ten, which he credited with turning his life around. Four years later, he started to box and trained under Cus D’Amato at the Grammercy Gym. Patterson won a gold medal at the 1952 Olympics while fighting as a middleweight.

Earl Battey, Athlete, and Educator born

*On this date in 1935, Earl Battey was born. He was an African American baseball player and teacher.

Joseph Dorsey Jr., Boxer, and Activist born

*Joseph Dorsey was born on this date in 1935.  He was a Black professional boxer and activist.  The New Orleans-born Joseph “Joe” Dorsey Jr. began boxing at 16 and retired from the sport at age 31.  Boxing in New Orleans, a hotbed of enthusiasm for the sport, was segregated as early as 1892 when Black […]

Pete Brown, Golfer born

*Pete Brown was born on this date in 1935. He is an African American golfer.

From Jackson, Mississippi Brown got his PGA Tour Card in 1963. One year later Brown became the first African American to Win a PGA event the Waco Turner Open in 1964. He married Margaret Brown with whom he had Six Girls. Brown spent 17 years on PGA Tour and a number of wins tow of which were PGA Victories. Browns tournament Victories include: Four Time USG (Negro) National Open Champion. Brown was a four time Long Star Open Champion, and a three Time North & South Champion.

The Newark Eagles Baseball Team, a story

*On this date in 1936, The Newark Eagles are celebrated. They were a professional Negro League Baseball team.   They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley and played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Dodgers, established in 1933, merged with the Brooklyn Eagles, established in 1935. Abe Manley and his African American wife, owners and founders of the […]

‘Cookie’ Gilchrist, Football Player born

“Cookie” Gilchrist was born on this date in 1935. He was an African American professional football player.

The Bismark Grays Baseball Team, a story

*The Bismarck Grays are celebrated on this date in 1935. They were a North Dakota-integrated national semi-pro baseball team. Neil Churchill moved to Bismarck in 1919 and began playing for a city team called the Grays. By 1926, Churchill was named team manager, and he decided to eliminate the previous practice of paying some of […]

Earl Francis, Baseball Pitcher born

Earl Francis was born on this date in 1935. He was an African American baseball player and businessman.

Earl Coleman Francis was from Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening day starter in 1963 and a rookie pitcher on their 1960 World Series championship team. Francis was 16-23 with a 3.77 ERA in 52 games and six major league seasons, all but one with the Pirates. He pitched two games for St. Louis in 1965. The right-hander was 1-0 in seven games in 1960, but did not pitch in the World Series. His best season was 1962, when he was 9-8 with a 3.07 ERA.

Jim ‘Mudcat’ Grant, Baseball Pitcher born

*”Mudcat” Grant was born on this date in 1935.  He was a Black baseball pitcher.  James Timothy “Mudcat” Grant was born in Lacoochee, Florida, then a lumber town about 40 miles north of Tampa. He was one of seven children born to James and Viola Grant. Like many of the residents of Lacoochee, James Grant, […]

Frank Robinson, Baseball Player, and Manager born

*Frank Robinson was born on this date in 1935.  He was a Black professional baseball player and manager.  Frank Robinson was born in Beaumont, Texas, the youngest of ten children to Frank Robinson and Ruth Shaw. His parents divorced when he was an infant, and his mother moved with her children first to Alameda, California, and then to West Oakland, California. He attended Oakland’s McClymonds High […]

Mamie ‘Peanut’ Johnson, Baseball Player born

Mamie Johnson was born on this date in 1935. She was an African American baseball player. “Peanut” Johnson was one of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro Leagues.

She was born in Ridgeway, S.C., he daughter of Gentry Harrison and Della Belton Havelow. When she was only seven years old, she would play baseball every day. When she left South Carolina to pursue her college education in 1943, she refused to let anyone or anything interfere with her love of playing baseball. She practiced while pursuing her studies at New York University.