Happy Birthday Edwin ‘E.B.’ Henderson, Grandfather of Black Basketball


This is a guest post written exclusively for The Black Fives Blog by Edwin B. Henderson, II

Edwin B. Henderson

Edwin B. Henderson, 1912.

Last week, 124 years ago, on Nov. 24, 1883, Edwin B. Henderson, my grandfather, for whom I was named, was born in Washington, D.C.

In addition to spending every summer and holidays with my grandfather, he and my grandmother lived the last decade of their lives in their own little apartment attached to our family home in Tuskegee, Alabama.

As a result, I got to know Grandpa pretty well. In my eyes he always stood head and shoulders above other men.

I was impressed by his sheer physical strength and stamina. Even in his 90’s, we went on trips to Florida and we would go deep-sea fishing. And while I was spilling my guts, we were catching 25-30 pound fish.

In some ways, Grandpa was a typical grandfather spinning tales of his youthful bravado.

The difference I noticed was that his stories were peppered with the names that, as a budding sports buff, I both recognized and appreciated.

Henderson at Harvard

Henderson (top row) with some Harvard Summer School classmates, where he learned basketball in 1904.

Two things happened during my youth that made me begin to realize Grandpa was pretty special even beyond our family and community circle.

At a high school track meet that I was competing in, Jesse Owens was the guest speaker. When my coach informed Mr. Owens that E. B. Henderson’s grandson was in the audience, he stepped down from the stage, strolled over to me, shook my hand and said he was honored to meet the grandson of E.B. Henderson.

I then began to look at my grandfather in a different light, and began to listen more intently to his stories of his exploits.

Then, in 1974, when Grandpa was inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame in New York, in it’s inaugural class alongside the likes of Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Joe Louis and Bill Russell, I was so proud beyond compare.

It was here that I realized that Grandpa was recognized as a giant among these men who, in my opinion, were themselves the giants of American Sports.

Henderson with 12 Streeters

Henderson (center, front) with the basketball team of the Twelfth Streeet Colored YMCA, of Washington, DC, circa 1910. Seated (l. to r.): Edward B. Gray, Hudson Oliver, Edwin B. Henderson, Maurice Clifford, Arthur L. Curtis. Standing (l. to r.): J.L. Chestnut, Henry T. Nixon, Robert Anderson, Lewis S. Johnson.

Grandpa died in February of 1977, at the ripe old age of 93.

It has been 30 years since his death. But my question lingers: What did Grandpa mean to the success of these giants — esteemed athletes with whom he spent his professional life, as a player, coach, referee, historian, writer, organizer, promoter, administrator, mentor and visionary?

Edwin B. Henderson set the tone and created the infrastructure for African American participation in athletics, by creating leagues and associations for black athletes and referees when no such thing previously existed.

He promoted intercity play between segregated African American leagues, for a greater social meaning.

And then, Grandpa chronicled and documented the African American experience in sports and athletics to help preserve our proud achievements.

What else did Grandpa do?

  • credited with being the first to introduce basketball to African Americans on a wide scale organized basis, in 1904 in Washington, D.C., earning him Grandfather of Black Basketball status;
  • organized the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association (I.S.A.A.), the first black athletic conference;
  • organized and promoted intercity play between black basketball teams along the Mid-Atlantic coast, especially between New York and Washington, D.C.;
  • organized the Washington 12th Streeters basketball team at the 12th St. YMCA in Washington, D.C., which won the 1909-1910 Black Basketball World Championship, as well as Howard University’s first varsity basketball team, which won that title the following season;
  • co-edited the Spalding Official Handbook for the I.S.A.A. from 1910 to 1913, the first comprehensive account of black participation in all major sports;
  • founded the Eastern Board of Officials, the first official organization to train black referees;
  • organized the Public Schools Athletic League (P.S.A.L.) in Washington, D.C., the first in the nation for blacks;
  • campaigned against racial restrictions in sports and advocated for interracial athletic competition;
  • authored The Negro In Sports in 1939, the first scholarly published history of black participation in sports.

In an era where the finest black athletes were either barred or shunned from performing in athletics, my grandfather believed that sports was an arena where African-Americans could unequivocally prove their equality once and for all.

Edwin B. Henderson, IIEdwin B. Henderson, II teaches United States History at Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church, VA. He is founder and president of Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, a public service organization that promotes awareness of Northern Virginia’s African American civil rights pioneers.

Photographs courtesy of Black Fives, Inc. except Harvard photograph courtesy Harvard University Archives.

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8 years ago

Hi,
I’d like to introduce myself, Dawn Henderson, born April 10, 1964. My daughter, Elsa Dawn Botha, was born on November 28, 2007. What is the name of the player in the #4 uniform—he resembles someone I met in Boulder, CO, in the winter of 2013?

11 years ago

When and where was the Honorable E.B. Henderson initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.?

[…] love the write-up that goes with the image, because it acknowledges that Henderson was “a founding father of organized black […]

Boone
15 years ago

Oh my, this is phenomenal…

[…] who was visiting from Tuskegee, Alabama, is the son of basketball pioneer and civil rights activist Edwin B. Henderson and author of Molder of Men, the definitive book about his father, who is credited with being the […]

[…] the years, numerous historical greats have been affiliated with the building, including Edwin B. Henderson and his Washington 12 Streeters championship basketball team, Langston Hughes, Charles Drew, Duke Ellington, and Thurgood […]

[…] Yes! It was like finding a long lost relative! Kevin’s grandfather played basketball against Edwin Henderson II’s grandfather! Think about that for a second. I’m gonna hook them up with each other. […]

Keith Ellis
16 years ago

Yes, thanks to Claude the story is getting out. How sad to learn that Logan Hall has fallen into disrepair. I must visit it before ‘progress’ gets in the way.

Edwin Henderson
16 years ago

As a matter of fact Keith, Thanksgiving always doubled as Grandpa’s birthday dinner. I was just home to Tuskegee for homecoming at the university. The historic Logan Hall at Tuskegee is in bad shape and should be preserved. It is a shame for Tuskegee to have let it get that bad.

i remember Logan Hall, as the site of March Madness, where I watched the best of black college basketball in the 50’s and 60’s, when most schools were segregated and attracted the good black talent, because white schools were not doing that yet, and Texas Western had not made their imprint and changed the trends in college sports.

I would take off from school early and get down to Logan Hall to see SIAC teams like Florida A & M, South Carolina State, Bethune-Cookman, Morehouse, Clark, Morris Brown, Alabama State, Alabama A & M, Albany State, Fort Valley State, Lane, LeMoyne-Owen, and others I probably can’t remember.

That was my March-Madness. The CIAA further North, in the North Carolina and Virginia areas are traditions that go on still. The SIAC and CIAA, I believe, are NCAA-Division 2 teams. The MEAC and the SWAC are NCAA-Division 1-AA teams.

Dan Klores, a documentary film producer out of New York is doing a documentary that should come out in the next year or so, about basketball at HBCUs. I think there are so many stories that need to be told, that sometimes tough choices are being made about which ones get the attention they deserve. I think blogs like BlackFivesBlog give people a chance to get that story out.

Thanks Claude.

Jeff Ziegler
16 years ago

Mr. Henderson,
I enjoyed the article about your grandfather, as a basketball historian from the state of Indiana. I got to read about your grandfather, while reading about the history of basketball and Oscar Robertson. During the shameful years of segregation, your grandfather was one of the true gentlemen that worked hard to break through walls, in a way that was very honorable. The more our young people, of all races, understand history – the stronger our country will become. On November 24, 1883 – the world was given a gift of a great man.

Keith Ellis
16 years ago

Dear Edwin Henderson II:

Thank you so much for this stirring tribute to your grandfather who appropriately must have celebrated his birthday w/ family on many Thanksgiving Days. I was especially interested to learn of his & your residence in Tuskegee, where the NY Rens played a highly significant game at historic Logan Hall on 23 January 1936.

Also striking was the bullet that your grandfather “campaigned against racial restrictions in sports and advocated for interracial athletic competition.” If you are interested in learning about heralds of integrated basketball in the heart of Twenties Klan country, which cleared the lane for the Rens & other East Coast hoopsters to crossover into the MidWest, click my name, which is a “trackback” to a website telling the story.

[…] huge tip of the hat to Edwin B. Henderson, who, led by his grandson, has a growing following of supporters lobbying to have his name added to the roster of those […]