People, Locations, Episodes

Ruben ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Boxer born

*Rubin Carter was born on this date in 1937. He was an African American professional boxer and criminal justice advocate.

George Raveling, Basketball Coach born

*George Raveling was born on this date in 1937. He is a Black former college basketball player, author, and coach. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., George Henry Raveling began playing basketball in the ninth grade. He attended St. Michael’s, a Catholic boarding school in Hoban Heights, Pennsylvania, where his grandmother’s employer assisted him in […]

Willie McCovey, Baseball Player born

*Willie McCovey was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black professional baseball player. Willie Lee McCovey was born in Mobile, Alabama, the seventh of ten children born to Frank and Esther McCovey. He began working part-time at the age of 12 and dropped out of high school without graduating to work full-time. […]

Curt Flood, Baseball Player, and Union Activist born

*On this date in 1938, Curtis Charles Flood. He was a Black baseball player and union activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in the major leagues for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Oakland, California, Flood played in the same outfield in West Oakland’s McClymond’s High School as Vada Pinson and Frank […]

Emile Griffith, Boxer born

*Emile Griffith was born on this date in 1938. He was an African American professional boxer.

Joe Louis Retains His Boxing Title Against Max Schmeling

On this date in 1938, Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in a rematch of an earlier fight that Louis had lost.

When “The Brown Bomber” avenged his loss with the German boxer, viewed as a Nazi symbol of an alleged “superior race,” the entire country celebrated, not just Black Americans but many White Americans too. Joe Louis (pictured in the far right corner) floored Schmeling three times, winning their much-publicized rematch at Yankee Stadium in the first round.

The Baltimore Elite Giants Baseball Team Is Formed

This date in 1938 celebrates the establishment of the Baltimore Elite Giants baseball team. This was one the many Negro League Baseball teams of the twentieth century.

Oscar Robertson, Basketball Player born

Oscar Robertson was born on this date in 1938. He was an African American basketball player and administrator.

Born on a farm in Charlotte, TN., his family moved to Indianapolis when he was four years old.

Deacon Jones, Football Player born

*Deacon Jones was born on this date in 1938. He was an African American football player, part time actor and philanthropist.

The Harlem Ren’s (Basketball Team) Win the World Championship

*On this date in 1939, the “Harlem Rens” became the first all Black pro basketball team to win a World Championship.

Harlem Renaissance Big Five, one of the most successful all-Black professional basketball teams in the 1920s and 1930s, added grace and style to the game of American basketball. Robert L. Douglass who was a native of the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and a former professional basketball player with the New York Spartans created the Harlem Renaissance Big Five team in 1922.

Gates Brown, Baseball Player born

*Gates Brown was born on this date in 1939. He was an African American Major League Baseball player.

William James “Gates” Brown was born in Crestline, Ohio. As a young man he served time at the Ohio State Reformatory for burglary from 1958 to 1959, where the got the nick-name “Gates.” While there a prison guard who also coached the reformatory’s baseball team to join the squad as a catcher encouraged him.

Ralph Boston, Athlete, and Humanitarian born

Ralph Harold Boston was born on this date in 1939 in Laurel MS. He is a former African American athlete, humanitarian, and businessman.

He was the youngest of ten children. Ralph Boston earned a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics, silver in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics,and a bronze in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. His specialty was the long jump, for which he set a world’s record in 1960. From 1960 to 1967, Boston was ranked number one in the world in that event. He also was selected as “World Athlete of the Year” and as the “North American Athlete of the Year.”

Jim Dent, Golfer born.

*Jim Dent was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black professional golfer. James Lacey Dent was born in the golf mecca of Augusta, Georgia, home of the Masters Tournament, though as a Black youth, he would’ve only been allowed on the Augusta National course as a caddie at the time. Dent caddied […]

The Langston Golf Course (Washington D.C.) Opens

*The opening of Langston Golf Course occurred on this date in 1939. Located in Washington, D.C., this facility was a benchmark in the growth of golf as a popular recreational and professional sport for African Americans.

The National Negro Airmen Association of America is Formed

*On this date in 1939, the National Negro Airmen Association of America (N.N.A.A.A.) was formed. During the mid-1930s and before World War II, a group of foresighted, concerned, and dedicated individuals came together in the Chicago area to create an organization that actively pursued and set the stage for blacks in aviation and aeronautics.  Cornelius […]