MAY 1, 2020 — Due to the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, SABR's Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference has been rescheduled for June 10-13, 2021, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama.
Since 1998, the Malloy Conference has been the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination and promotion of Black baseball history. The conference, which is open to baseball and history fans of all ages, promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. Each year, monies are targeted to donate books to schools or libraries; raise funds for the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project; and award scholarships to high school seniors in a nationwide essay contest and an annual art contest.
Anyone who has already registered for the Malloy Conference is encouraged to contact Deb Jayne at the SABR office to discuss options regarding their conference registration fees, including converting it into a donation toward SABR's Sustainability Campaign fund.
The Negro Leagues Committee is one of SABR's original committees, formed in 1971. It has continued to preserve and highlight the contributions of African-American players in baseball history.
Click on a link below to learn more about the Malloy Conference essay contest and scholarships, art competition, and school library grants.
High School Essay Contest
SABR's Negro Leagues Committee will award $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors in its 12th annual Thomas R. Garrett Scholarship essay contest in 2019. Students are asked to write a 1,200-word essay answering a question related to one of the Negro League figures who are the namesakes of the scholarships: Andrew "Rube" Foster, Robert Peterson, Normal "Tweed" Webb, and Jimmie Crutchfield. Click here to downlad an application for each scholarship. The deadlines to apply are May 4, 2020. Eligible applicants must be 1) a current high school senior, 2) anticipating completion of high school diploma at the time of application, 3) planning to pursue a degree at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution, and 4) carrying a minimum 2.5 GPA at the end of their junior year of high school. Please e-mail or mail all materials to Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu. Click here to learn more about the 2019 essay contest winners.
Dick Clark Memorial Library Grants
SABR's Negro Leagues Research Committee will award two $500 Dick Clark Memorial Library Grants for 2020. School and community libraries from across the country are invited to submit grant proposals centering on educating students and the community about black baseball and American history. Click here to download the PDF application, with information for eligibility requirements, submission criteria, and style guidelines. The deadline to apply is May 18, 2020. Questions can be directed to Leslie Heaphy (Lheaphy@kent.edu), Mark Moore (mmoore@cpl.org), Tim Bottorff (tbottorf@mail.ucf.edu), or Marlene Vogelsang (mvogelsang@sbcglobal.net).
Youth Art Contest
SABR's Negro Leagues Committee's will hold its 11th annual Youth Art Contest in 2020. Please note: More information and the PDF application will be available here soon, with information on eligibility requirements and submission criteria. The cost is $10 per three entries. No limit on entries per school. The winning artist will receive a $150 prize. All schools that enter students will be placed in a drawing for a prize of $250 worth of age-appropriate Negro Leagues baseball books for their school library. Questions can be directed to Leslie Heaphy (Lheaphy@kent.edu).
Download our free e-book on the last Negro League World Series
One of our newest publications from the SABR Digital Library focuses on the end of an era in black baseball. Bittersweet Goodbye: The Black Barons, the Grays, and the 1948 Negro League World Series, edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin, was inspired by the last Negro League World Series ever played and presents biographies of the players on the two contending teams in 1948 — the Birmingham Black Barons and the Homestead Grays — as well as the managers, the owners, and articles on the ballparks the teams called home. Also included are articles that recap the season’s two East-West All-Star Games, the Negro National League and Negro American League playoff series, and the World Series itself. Additional context is provided in essays about the effects of Organized Baseball’s integration on the Negro Leagues, the exodus of Negro League players to Canada, and the signing away of top Negro League players, specifically Willie Mays.
Click here to learn more or download the e-book. SABR members can download the e-book edition for free or get 50% off the paperback edition.
Who was Jerry Malloy?
Click a link below for highlights from past Jerry Malloy Conferences:
- 2019: None held
- 2018: None held
- 2017: Harrisburg, PA
- 2016: Kansas City, MO
- 2015: Pittsburgh, PA
- 2014: Detroit, MI
- 2013: Newark, NJ
- 2012: Cleveland, OH
- 2011: Indianapolis, IN
- 2010: Birmingham, AL
- 2009: Pittsburgh, PA
- 2008: Chicago, IL
- 2007: Portsmouth, VA
- 2006: Kansas City, MO
- 2005: Chicago, IL
- 2004: Cleveland, OH
- 2003: Harrisburg, PA
- 2002: Memphis, TN
- 2001: Kansas City, MO
- 2000: Harrisburg, PA
- 1999: Atlantic City, NJ
- 1998: Harrisburg, PA