The brothers Ulysses S. “Lyss” Young and William “Pimp” Young, unsung African American basketball pioneers who took their games far beyond the courts.
‘Pimp’ and ‘Lyss’: The Immortal Young Brothers
After World War I, some veterans from Company E of the 372nd Colored Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, formed a basketball team.
Isaacs’ biggest contributions came well after his playing days ended.
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 »
Julius Rosenwald was born August 12, 1862 in Springfield, Illinois. “Treat people fairly and honestly and generously and their response will be fair and honest and generous.” Rosenwald was the long time president and chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Company. Starting in 1911, his matching grant philanthropic programs helped build dozens of Young Men’s Christian… Read more »
July 27 is the birthday of Ferdinand J. Accooe, one of the original members of the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn.
In April, 1912 the Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. of Washington, D.C. opened. Here’s some more about this landmark building in Part II of a series.
One of the most beautiful vintage gymnasiums on the planet is at the old Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. in Washington, D.C.
In the early 1900s, the Christian origins of basketball (in the YMCA) spawned an unwritten rule: playing the game was forbidden during Lent.
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.