The Forgotten History of African American Baseball

This text gives readers the chance to experience the unique character and personalities of the African American game of baseball in the United States, starting from the time of slavery, through the Negro Leagues and integration period, and beyond.

For 100 years, African Americans were barred from playing in the premier baseball leagues of the United States--where only Caucasians were allowed. Talented black athletes until the 1950s were largely limited to only playing in Negro leagues, or possibly playing against white teams in exhibition, post-season play, or barnstorming contests--if it was deemed profitable for the white hosts. Even so, the people and events of Jim Crow baseball had incredible beauty, richness, and quality of play and character. The deep significance of Negro baseball leagues in establishing the texture of American history is an experience that cannot be allowed to slip away and be forgotten.

This book takes readers from the origins of African Americans playing the American game of baseball on southern plantations in the pre-Civil War era through Black baseball and America’s long era of Jim Crow segregation to the significance of Black baseball within our modern-day, post-Civil Rights Movement perspective.

Lawrence D. Hogan is emeritus professor of history at Union County College, Cranford, NJ.