People, Locations, Episodes

Joe Lillard, Football and Basketball Player born

*Joe Lillard was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American professional athlete (primarily) football player.

From Tulsa, OK, Lillard came to Mason City, Iowa in 1915, following the death of his parents at the age of ten. He was adopted by a Mrs. Walter White, but during high school lived with two relatives, Herbert and Horace Spencer, brothers who owned a sidewalk paving company in Mason City. Joseph Lillard graduated from Mason City High School in 1927.

Marie Dickerson Corker, Aviator, and Dancer born

*Marie Dickerson Coker was born on this date in 1906. She was a Black singer, dancer, airplane Stunt Pilot, musician, and showgirl. From Muskogee, Oklahoma, the fifth of seven children to Sarah Ragsdale and a father surnamed Jones. After she was widowed, Marie’s mother left Muskogee for Los Angeles, California, along with Marie and some […]

Martin Dihigo, Baseball Player born

*Martín Dihigo was born on this date in 1906. He was an Afro Cuban professional baseball player.   Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos was born in Cidra, Jesús María in Matanzas Province, Cuba. He began his professional career at 16 as a substitute infielder for Habana in the Cuban League. His first summer in United States […]

Satchel Paige, Baseball Pitcher born

Satchel Paige was born on this date in 1906. He was an African American baseball player, the first Black pitcher in the American League, and the first representative of the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Willie Wells, Baseball Player born

*Willie Wells was born on this date in1906. He was an African American baseball player.

Chet Brewer, Baseball Player, and Baseball Scout born

*Chet Brewer was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black right-handed pitcher and player scout in baseball’s Negro leagues and National League. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, Chester Arthur Brewer toiled on the mounds of black baseball for twenty-four years. He played with various teams worldwide, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, Canada, […]

Hilton Smith, Baseball Player born

*On this date in 1907, Hilton Smith was born. He was an African American baseball player with the Negro Leagues. A native of Giddings, Texas, Smith played baseball as a student at Prairie View A&M College and on his father’s local team.

LeRoy Matlock, Baseball Player born

*Leroy Matlock was born on this date in 1907. He was a Black baseball player in the Negro Leagues. Born in Moberly, MO., Matlock was among the best left-handed pitchers in the 1930’s.  He played with several teams from 1929 to 1938. He was selected for the 1935 and 1936 East-West All-Star Games. Matlock won […]

Janet Bragg, Nurse, Aviator, and Businesswoman born

*Janet Bragg was born on this date in 1907. She was an African American aviator, nurse, and nursing home proprietor.

Raymond Kemp, Football Player, and Coach born

*Ray Kemp was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American football player and coach.

Raymond Howard Kemp was from Cecil, Pa., a region of coal mines and farms where his parents had migrated from Virginia. He played fullback and the baritone saxophone at Cecil Township High School, and participated in the oratorical society. ”In that area at that time, it was assumed that blacks wouldn’t go to high school,” he recalled. ”I had brothers and sisters who were smarter than I was, but none of them went to school.”

The St. Paul Colored Gophers Baseball Team is Formed

The St. Paul Colored Gophers of 1907 are celebrated on this date. They were a small club of African American baseball players formed in St. Paul, MN, 40 years before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier.

Buck Leonard, Baseball Player born

This date in 1907 marks the birth of Buck Leonard. He was an African American baseball player, one of the best at his position in the Negro Baseball leagues.

Leonard began his baseball career as a semi-pro star in his hometown of Rocky Mount, NC, but in 1933, he was forced by the depression to leave home to pursue a professional career.

‘Jacko’ Maxwell, Negro League Broadcaster born

Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell was born on this date in 1907. He was an African American sports broadcaster, journalist, and postal worker.

A Newark, N.J. native Sherman Leander Maxwell was the son of William and Bessie E. (Harris) Maxwell. In 1928, Sherman graduated from Newark Central High School. He had hoped to attend Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene in East Orange, only to find it did not accept Black students.

Lew Hayman, Sports Businessman born

*Lew Hayman was born on this date in 1908. He was a Jewish-American sports executive. Lewis Edward Hayman was born in New York City and grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. He attended high school at the New York Military Academy. He played basketball at Syracuse University as a three-year starter and was named College Humor third-team […]

The World’s First Black Heavyweight Boxing Champion is Crowned

On this date in 1908, Jack Johnson became the first African American to win the world heavyweight boxing title.

Johnson knocked out Canadian Tommy Burns in the 14th round in a championship fight near Sydney, Australia. Whites hated Johnson, who held the heavyweight title until 1915, for his defiance of the “Jim Crow” racial segregation and oppression of early 20th-century America.