sports in the 1930's
... “Rube” Foster—a former player, manager, and owner for the Chicago American Giants organized a league for African-American baseball players in the Midwest. This league was known as the Negro National League. Soon after, rival teams were formed in the Eastern and Southern states (Nlbm.com). This was all the beginning of a new era for African-Americans. But they still weren’t treated fairly. Blacks got smaller pay checks than whites, and racist fans said rude and hurtful comments. Players were strong though, and didn’t let the remarks get them down. White sports in the 1930’s were highly privileged and opportunistic areas of profession. There were several sports that were at the height of their glory, which allowed for a lot of wealth to be made for the players with skill in that area. Baseball, hockey, golf and tennis were among the top white sports of the period. Whites had pretty much dominated the professional sports world at this time, but the black sports players were working hard in their own league. They were becoming stronger and stronger, awaiting their chance to be recognized for the major leagues. In 1945, African-American baseball players’ dreams were beginning to become reality. Jackie Robinson was recruited from the Kansas City Monarchs, to play in the Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers. He became the first African-American in the modern era to play on a Major League roster, and the first black player to win the MVP award in 1949 (Nlbm.com). During the 1930’s the Depression of WWII was greatly affecting the nation, and baseball was a way to help bring everyone back together. In, 1930, Kansas City Monarchs become the first team to regularly play night baseball. J.L. Wilkinson, Monarchs owner, bought a portable lighting system so the Monarchs could play at night on the road. In 1931, Gus Greenlee, Pittsburgh Crawfords’ owner, built a new stadium for his team, costing $100,000. This was a massive expense considering the Great Depression was occurring at this time. Then, in 1932, the eight-team East-West League was formed, but it was over by June. By the end of the year the Negro National League shut down too, after 12 seasons (Si.com). In 1933, Greenlee organized the second Negro National League including: the Pittsburgh Crawfords, the Homestead Grays, the Indianapolis ABCs, the Detroit Stars and the Columbus Blue Birds. He also stages the first East-West All Star Game, held in Chicago. The all-star game draws over 20,000 people to Comiskey Park. This continues throughout the 1930’s (Si.com). Baseball wasn’t the only sport for African-Americans in the 1930’s. One of the most successful black basketball players in the 1930’s was William “Pop” Gates. Gates was born in 1917. He played basketball for four Turner, Johns, Stacherski 5 years in high school and attended Clark College (Atlanta, GA) for one month before turning pro. He began playing for the Independe...