Today is the date that the all-black New York (Harlem) Rens made history by replacing the Detroit Vagabond Kings of the previously racially segregated National Basketball League and debuting as the new Dayton Rens.
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Today is the 100th anniversary of the first inter-city game between two African American basketball teams, on December 18, 1908.
A nice music video tribute to New York City streetball, thanks to our friends over at Bounce Magazine.
On December 12, 1917, the famous 369th Colored Infantry Regiment of Harlem — known as the Harlem Hellfighters — set sail for Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey.
In the winter following his rookie year in the Major Leagues, Baseball Hall of Fame member Larry Doby became the first African American player in the American Basketball League.
During each December, celebrate the history of African American women who were pioneers in basketball!
Who knew these treasures existed? Dozens of African American basketball teams from the early 1900s, lost in the sands of time. Buried for years beneath the publicity and hype of first the N.C.A.A., then the Harlem Globetrotters, then the N.B.A. I’m using the buried treasure analogy because on this day, November 26, 1922, American archaeologist… Read more »
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the date (November 26, 1908) that President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. Branch building in Washington, D.C. In a formal ceremony involving “many prominent persons of both the white and colored races,” Roosevelt spread the first trowelful of mortar on the foundation… Read more »
The Commonwealth Big Five, an all-black basketball team, debuted on this date in 1922, becoming the first fully-professional African American basketball team.
We had some very significant basketball history milestones this week. The Loendi Big Five On November 5, 1900, the Loendi Social and Literary Club was incorporated in Pittsburgh, Pa. The club’s basketball team, the Loendi Big Five, dominated black basketball during the 1910s and early 1920s. The organization itself was the most prestigious African American… Read more »