Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
15th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
July 19-21, 2012
Cleveland, Ohio
- Hotel: Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, 24 Public Square, Cleveland, OH 44113. SABR has secured a group rate of $124/night for a 1 king/2 queen room.
- Registration: Sign up online at the SABR Store. Full conference rate is $125, which includes all panels and presentations, Thursday meet-and-greet, Friday picnic, ticket to Friday Indians game, and Saturday banquet. Two-day rate (Friday-Saturday) is $110 for adults, $70 for students. One-day rate (Friday or Saturday) is $60. To register by mail, download the form in the link below.
- Schedule/information: A complete information packet with schedule, mail-in registration form and program advertising opportunities can be downloaded here (PDF).
- High School Essay Contest: SABR's Negro Leagues Research Committee has awarded two $2,500 scholarships to high school seniors Katarina Nguyen of Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington, and Michael Zoorob of Brentwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee, in its fourth annual essay contest. Students were asked to write a 1,000-word essay on one of the following topics: “What influence or impact did the Negro Leagues have on African American communities?" or “What is the legacy of Rube Foster?” Click here to learn more about the winners. Or download the PDF application for eligibility requirements, submission criteria and style guidelines.
- Research Presentations: This interdisciplinary conference welcomes proposals for oral and poster presentations from all research fields. Previous presenters have included college faculty, public school teachers, graduate students, and independent scholars. Presentations may focus on any topic related to the theme, black baseball in the Midwest or other Negro League issues. Download the PDF application here for details on submitting your abstract for an oral or poster presentation. Presentation proposals were due March 19, 2012.
- School Library Grants: SABR's Negro Leagues Research Committee has awarded two $1,000 library grants to Windy Hill Elementary School of Jacksonville, Florida, and Buffalo United Charter School in Buffalo, New York. Click here to learn more about the winners and their programs. School libraries from across the country were invited to submit grant proposals centering on educating students about black baseball and American history. Or download the PDF application for eligibility requirements, submission criteria and style guidelines .
- Art Contest deadline: The annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference art competition awards prizes in three categories: Professional, Amateur and Youth (under 16). A $20 entry fee is good for up to three entries, including paintings, drawings, sculptural works and other traditional art mediums. Please send JPG image by e-mail to Leslie Heaphy or by mail to Leslie Heaphy, Kent State University, Stark 6000 Frank Rd, North Canton, OH 44720. The winning entrants will have their art displayed during the conference at the Baseball Heritage Museum, and a $400 prize. Photos of winning entries will also be included in an upcoming edition of Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal (McFarland & Co.) Download the PDF application here for eligibility requirements, submission criteria and style guidelines. All submissions must be postmarked by May 7, 2012. For more information on the Art Contest, visit Ben Blackburn's website BaseballAsAmerica.net.
- Sponsor a Youth Art Contest entry: Some students may not be able to afford the $10 entry fee to enter the Art Contest. Please consider sponsoring one or more youth entries in the 2012 Malloy Conference art competition. Download a PDF sponsorship form here.
- Information: Contact Leslie Heaphy or Larry Lester. Or download the 2012 Malloy Conference information packet here (PDF).
2012 theme: "Black Baseball in Ohio"
Black baseball has a strong history in Ohio and especially the city of Cleveland. In the 19th century, one of the first African American players in the majors, Moses Fleetwood Walker, played in Toledo. The city of Cleveland had more Negro League entries (11) than any other city in the Negro Leagues from the 1920s through the 1940s. The crowning success came with the 1945 Cleveland Buckeyes winning the Negro League World Series. Their roster included such key players as Quincy Trouppe, Sam Jethroe, Eugene Bremer and Archie Ware.
In 1948, the Cleveland Indians boasted the first African American player in the American League with the signing of Larry Doby and, later, the legendary Satchel Paige. The 15th annual Malloy Conference will celebrate Ohio’s baseball history. In addition to two days of research presentations and player/author panels, attendees will also enjoy a special presentation about League Park and a game with the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.
Overview of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
When the Society for American Baseball Research was founded on August 10, 1971, just a single player from the Negro Leagues had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame — the ageless pitching wonder Satchel Paige, who delivered his speech on the library steps in Cooperstown on the afternoon before SABR's first meeting. Today, largely due to the research of SABR members over the ensuing four decades, there are 35 representatives from baseball's pre-integration leagues for black players with plaque in the Hall of Fame gallery.
"Smokey Joe Williams", by Bill Cormalis Jr.: winner (professional) of the 2011 Negro Leagues Committee art contest
SABR's Negro Leagues Research Committee — one of its original committees, formed in 1971 — has continued to preserve and highlight the contributions of African-American players in baseball history. Led by co-chairs Dick Clark and Larry Lester, the committee published the landmark The Negro Leagues Book in 1994, which featured a complete register of more than 3,000 players, team rosters and in-depth histories from leagues of the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth.
The committee has also spawned the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project, which was started in 2003 by SABR member Jeremy Krock and has provided proper grave markers to the unmarked graves of more than 20 former Negro Leagues players around the country. (Their work was featured in an "NBC Nightly News" special that can be viewed here.)
SABR members and nonmembers alike can learn more about the Negro Leagues Committee and its groundbreaking work at the 15th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, scheduled for July 19-21, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Malloy Conference, hosted by SABR's Negro Leagues Committee, promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. For the past 14 years, the event has been the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination and promotion of black baseball history. The conference is open to baseball and history fans of all ages.
Each year, monies are targeted to donate books to schools or libraries; raise funds for the Grave Marker Project; and award scholarships to high school seniors in a nationwide essay contest and a nationwide art contest.
For more information on SABR conferences throughout the year, visit SABR.org/events.
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