The success of the Monticello Athletic Association paved the way for other African American teams in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, by showing that any team from any city could produce a champion with enough desire and determination.
Historical Black Basketball Milestone (1912) For Pittsburgh
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 »
Was their ever a time when black folks came from actual neighborhoods, before it was collectively called the ‘hood? Maybe so. Introducing the Neighborhood A. C. of New York City, perhaps the first organization to represent, well, the ‘hood. The Neighborhood Athletic Club of New York City, circa 1912. Somebody help me out, is that… Read more »
James “Big Jim” Dorsey, a tall 15-year-old African American janitor from the North Side section of Pittsburgh, single-handedly influenced black basketball in the early 1900s.
How “logo forensics” helped me re-create the identity of the Independent Pleasure Club of New Jersey so that the story of this wonderful all-black basketball team could be brought back to life.