A vintage pair of 1930s basketball kneepads.
Artifact of the Week (3): Kneepads
A rare promotional medallion from 1915 that is the earliest known in-arena give-way in basketball.
To celebrate the start of Black History Month 2016, we launched a new feature called the Artifact of the Week.
This new repository allows more room to expand the size of our archive and provides many fundamentally important capabilities that were previously missing.
A collection of rare photographs and other historical materials relating to Harlem Globe Trotters have been donated to the Black Fives Foundation Historical Archive.
Claude Johnson will present “The Crucial Role of Ephemera in Tracing Black Basketball History” at the Ephemera Society of America’s 35th Annual Conference, March 20 in Greenwich, CT.
It’s over! ‘De-install’ begins today for the Black Fives exhibit at the New-York Historical Society! Did you miss it? If so, check out the “Exhibition” page at BlackFives.org!
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) this week aired a special segment about the Black Fives exhibition at the New-York Historical Society on its evening news program, BBC World News America, hosted by Katty Kay.
NPR News Morning Edition featured the recently opened Black Fives Exhibit at the New-York Historical Society in a segment this morning on member station WSHU 91.1 FM.
The opening reception for the Black Fives Exhibition at the New-York Historical Society this week was a big success and a memorable event.
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Black Fives
We inspire excellence in youth and communities by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball.
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.![]()
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This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.![]()
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On the front, you see something beautiful.![]()
On the back, you see the work.![]()
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Tens of thousands of stitches.![]()
Each one holding the whole together.![]()
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Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.![]()
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Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.![]()
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The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.![]()
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And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.![]()
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Do we really want to remove certain stitches?![]()
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?![]()
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Do we value the work we don’t see?![]()
Do we recognize it?![]()
Do we protect it?![]()
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That’s the real story.![]()
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A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.![]()
Build with us.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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#culturalheritage ![]()
#intellectualproperty ![]()
#archives ![]()
#sportsbusiness ![]()
#blackhistory
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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A deep archive of early African American basketball.![]()
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The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.![]()
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But this is more than an archive.![]()
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It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.![]()
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Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.![]()
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For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.![]()
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Build with us.![]()
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blackfives.org/build![]()
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#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty