African Americans in
Sports
By: Mike Cannon
Negro Leagues
• Blacks were not allowed to play on the same
team or compete with whites on a collegiate
or professional level.
• The separate but equal laws gave them the
opportunity to play but only in a blacks only
league.
Negro Leagues
• The negro league was established on February
13, 1920, at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The founder was a man by the name of
Andrew “Rube” Foster, a star pitcher who
served as the league's first president.
• Negro league became a huge success, teams
played before big crowds in major league
parks.
Negro Leagues
• Due to the amount of success, the negro
league began playing against white teams
• Also developed some of the greatest baseball
players of all time. One of which is Jackie
Robinson.
Jackie Robinson
• Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first
black Major League Baseball player of the
modern era.
• Robinson broke the baseball color line when
he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in
1947.
• He received many death threats and signed a
contract stating that no matter what is said to
him or if he is attacked he may not revolt.
Robinson’s Accomplishments
• 6× All-Star selection (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952,
1953, 1954)
• Negro League All-Star selection (1945)
• World Series champion (1955)
• 1947 MLB Rookie of the Year
• 1949 NL MVP
• Jersey number 42 retired by all MLB teams
• Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Jackie Robinson Highlights
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWpEtRLg
rww
Harry “Bucky” Lew
• Harry joined the YMCA "young employed
boys" basketball team in 1898.
• His team was state champions for the four
years he played with them.
• Then in 1902, he was recruited to join Lowell’s
Pawtucketville Athletic Club "P.A.C." of the
New England Professional Basketball League.
Harry “Bucky” Lew
• He was paid a salary of $5 dollars.
• When Lew first took the court against white
men, his skillful play was met with jeers and
racial slurs.
• Lew was a very good defensive player that was
always chosen to guard the best player on any
opposing team.
The Marlborough Game
• On November 2, 1902, his team, faced a team
from Marlborough.
• Harry remembered that his manager was
reluctant to let him play against white boys.
• Some of the local papers put the pressure on
the manager by demanding that they give this
little Negro from around the corner a chance
to play.
The Marlborough Game
• “Well, at first the team just ignored the
publicity. But a series of injuries forced the
manager to take me on for the Marlborough
game."
-Harry “Bucky” Lew
• During the game one player got injured and
the only player with a good enough skill level
was Lew.
The Marlborough Game
• The coach decided to go 4 on 5 instead of
putting Harry Lew in because he was not fond
of blacks.
• The fans were furious with the coach’s
decision and almost started a riot just to let
Lew play.
Harry “Bucky” Lew
• "but the fans got real mad and almost started a
riot, screaming to let me play. That did it. I went
in there and you know... all those things you
read about Jackie Robinson, the abuse, the
name-calling, extra effort to put him down ...
they're all true. I got the same treatment and
even worse ... I took the bumps, the elbows in
the gut, knees here and everything else that
went with it. But I gave it right back. It was
rough but worth it. Once they knew I could take
it, I had it made."
The Lockdown Defender
• One of his teammates said: "Nobody ever
voiced an objection to playing against him as a
black player until they played him and he
would shut down their best player... Then all
of a sudden, they would say, we don't want to
play against a Negro player. They just used
that tactic to get him off the court for the next
game."
Harry “Bucky” Lew
• Harry “Bucky” Lew is one of the pioneers of
basketball, yet he has never been inducted
into the Hall of Fame, located just a few miles
from where he spent the last 35 years of his
life.
Muhammad Ali
• Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942
• As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the
light heavyweight division at the 1960
Summer Olympics in Rome.
• Ali went on to become the first boxer to win
the lineal heavyweight championship three
times.
Thrilla in Manila
• Thrilla in Manila was the third and final
famous boxing match between Muhammad
Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing
Championship of the World.
• The fight came about after Ali was stripped of
his title following his refusal to join the armed
forces when drafted during the Vietnam War.
Thrilla in Manila
• Ali came out stronger than Frazier and In
round 14, with the punishment from Ali
closing his right eye, Frazier was effectively
fighting blind in the last rounds of the fight.
• Eddie Futch decided to stop the fight between
rounds rather than risk a similar or worse fate
for Frazier in the 15th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWp
EtRLgrww
QQQQQUUUUUIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZ
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What was Mr. Lew’s nickname?
When was the Negro League established?
Who was the founder of the Negro League?
What is Jackie Robinson’s jersey number?
Name 3 of Jackie Robinson’s accomplishments.
How did the thrilla in manila end? How many
rounds?
• What was the name of the game where Lew was
given a chance to play and showcase his talent?
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=6nIW5AbwZZY