February 23, 1929 Elston Gene Howard, former Negro and Major League baseball player, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up in St. Louis, Howard showed that baseball was not his his only strength. He played football, ran track and made all-state in basketball. In 1947, after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and debuted […]
Archive | Sports RSS feed for this section
Isaac Burns Murphy – February 12th in African American History
February 12, 1896 Isaac Burns Murphy, hall of fame jockey, died. Murphy was born April 16, 1861 in Frankfort, Kentucky. He competed in 11 Kentucky Derby’s and was the first jockey to ride three derby winners, Buchanan in 1884, Riley in 1890, and Kingman in 1891. Over his career, Murphy won 628 of his 1,412 […]
Albert Chalky Wright – February 10th in African American History
February 10, 1912 Albert Chalky Wright, hall of fame boxer, was born in Wilcox, Arizona. Wright began boxing professionally in 1928, two weeks after turning 16. He fought for many years before winning the World Featherweight Championship in September, 1941. He successfully defended the title once before losing it in November, 1942. Wright retired in […]
Jackie Robinson Remembered – January 31st in African American History
Jackie Robinson is one of the most influential players in professional baseball to ever put on the jersey. This is not only because of his skill as a player, but his grace as well. He was the first African American to ever make it to the big leagues, and although he faced discrimination at every […]
Richard (Dick) “Night Train” Lane – January 29th in African American History
January 29, 2002 Richard (Dick) “Night Train” Lane, hall of fame football player, died. Lane was born April 16, 1928 in Austin, Texas. He made his professional football debut with the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive back in 1952. In his rookie season, he set the NFL single season record for interceptions with 14 […]
William DeKova White – January 28th in African American History
January 28, 1934 William DeKova White, retired professional baseball player, sportscaster, and executive, was born in Lakewood, Florida. White made his major league debut in 1956 and during his 13 season professional career was a five-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove Award winner. After retiring as a player in 1969, White had an 18-year career […]
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson – January 23rd in African American History
January 23, 1976 Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson, concert singer, scholar, stage and film actor, athlete, and multi-lingual orator, died. Robeson was born April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey. He won a full academic scholarship to Rutgers University, the third African American student accepted at Rutgers. Although he was the only black student on campus […]