Thorn: A timeline of baseball integration
From SABR member John Thorn at Our Game on March 23, 2015:
A colleague in the Commissioner’s Office asked me to work up a Jackie Robinson timeline, which soon extended to a timeline of baseball’s integration. This endeavor interested me and I hope it will grab you too. This outline is no substitute for a broader understanding of the African American experience in baseball, or in society at large. But it does provide an entry point, and I hope that you will consider adding entries to it, or following the supplied links, most of them from within Our Game (some may not work by clicking and may require copying into your browser). A fine overview of the subject–indeed the best I know–is Jules Tygiel’s “Black Ball,” which ran in this space over five days last week, commencing with http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2015/03/16/black-ball/.
1820: The slave Henry Rosecranse Columbus Jr. plays baseball in Kingston, NY (slavery not abolished in New York State until 1827). http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2012/12/26/did-african-american-slaves-play-baseball/
1831: William Lloyd Garrison begins publication of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. Also, Nat Turner leads the most successful slave rebellion in U.S. history.
1840s: African Americans play baseball near Madison Square. http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2011/11/28/blood-and-base-ball/
Read the full article here: http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2015/03/23/baseball-integration-timeline/
Originally published: March 23, 2015. Last Updated: March 23, 2015.