People, Locations, Episodes

The Washington Senators Baseball Team Integrates

Havana-born outfielder Carlos Paula integrated the Washington Senators on this date in 1954.

In the next season, 1955, his only full campaign in the majors, Paula nearly won the Rookie of the Year award. Though he led all major league rookies in batting at .299, he also led the league’s right fielders in errors and didn’t win the award.

In the next season, his last in the majors, he played only 33 games before being sent back to Triple-A.

Dennis Johnson, Basketball Player, and Coach born

*Dennis Johnson was born this date in 1954. He was an African American basketball player and coach.

Born in San Pedro and raised in Compton, California, he played in college at Pepperdine and was drafted by Seattle in 1976. Johnson was traded to Phoenix in 1980 and then to Boston in 1983. He averaged 14.1 points and 5.0 assists. When he retired, he was the 11th player in NBA history to total 15,000 points and 5,000 assists. Johnson made one all-NBA first team and one second team. Six times he made the all-defensive first team, including five consecutive seasons (1979-83).

Ray Williams, Basketball Player born

*Ray Williams was born on this date in 1954. He was an African American professional basketball player. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Thomas Ray Williams was the younger brother of Gus Williams, who also played in the NBA.

Lusia Harris, Basketball Player born

*Lusia Harris was born on this date in 1955. She was a Black basketball player and one of the women’s professional basketball pioneers. Harris was born to Ethel Harris and Willie Harris, a cranberry farmer in Minter City, Mississippi. She is the tenth of eleven children and the fourth of five daughters. All her brothers and one […]

Indiana’s Attucks H.S. Basketball team, a story

*On this date in 1955, the Attucks Tigers basketball team won the Indiana High School state championship. Attucks beat Gary’s Roosevelt High School, becoming the first all-Black school in the nation to win a state title. They included future professional star and National Basketball Association Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.  The Attucks Tigers made it to […]

The First Black Man Plays Baseball For The New York Yankees

On this date in 1955, Elston Howard became the first Black man to play for the New York Yankees baseball team.

He played catcher and won the American league MVP award leading the team in batting (.348) in 1961.

Enith Brigitha, Olympic Swimmer born

*Enith Brigitha was born on this date in 1955. She is an Afro Caribbean amateur swimmer and retired Olympic champion.  She was born on the West Indian Island of Curacao, where she first learned to swim in the Caribbean Sea. When she moved to Holland with her mother and brother in 1970, she had become […]

The First Black Baseball Pitcher Throws a Major League No-Hitter

On this date in 1955, the first African American pitcher, Sam “Toothpick” Jones, tossed a no-hitter in major league baseball.

Jones, a member of the Chicago Cubs, no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–0, striking out the last three batters in the 9th after walking the bases loaded. Occurring in Chicago, it was the first no-hitter in Wrigley Field since the double no-hitter of 1917. The Cubs had 15 hits against Nellie King and Vernon Law that afternoon.

Doug Williams, Football, Player, and Administrator born

*Doug Williams was born on this date in 1955. He is a Black football executive, former quarterback, and coach. Douglas Lee Williams was born in Zachary, Louisiana, a town of about 8,000 people near Baton Rouge. Williams attended Grambling State University, where he played under head coach Eddie Robinson. He played on the same team as future NFL […]

Kelvin Sampson, College Basketball Coach born

*Kelvin Sampson was born on this date in 1955. He is an African Native American college basketball coach. Kelvin Dale Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of Deep Branch in Robeson County, North Carolina, where he excelled in the classroom and the athletic arena during his prep days at Pembroke High School in Pembroke, North Carolina. […]

Tony Dungy, Football Analyst born

Tony Dungy was born on this date in 1955. He was an African American football player, coach and sports analyist.

Holmes v. Atlanta Segregation Case is Ruled

On this date in 1955, the Supreme Court ruled against Atlanta’s “separate but equal” precept in public golf courses.

The ‘Greenboro Six’, a story

This date in 1955 marks the incident of the “Greensboro Six,” a racial episode involving blacks and whites.

It took place at a golf course in Greensboro, N.C. On the morning of December 7, 1955, an early winter day, George C. Simkins, Jr. awaited the arrival of five golf partners, a regular occurrence. When they wanted a change of pace, they would meet and drive to High Point or Charlotte or Durham to play one of the few courses open to people of color.

First Black Man Wins American Football’s Outland Trophy

*On this date in 1955, Calvin Jones became the first African American college football player to win the Outland Trophy as the best linebacker in America.

Sugar Ray Leonard, Boxer born

*Ray Leonard was born on this date in 1956. He is a Black (retired) professional boxer and motivational speaker, best known as “Sugar” Ray Leonard.   Ray Charles Leonard, the fifth of seven children of Cicero and Getha Leonard, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was named after Ray Charles, his mother’s favorite singer. […]