Did you know that there were many non-playing pioneers of the Black Fives Era who made important contributions to the growth and evolution of basketball among African Americans?
Non-Playing Pioneers of the Black Fives Era
During the 1910s, a Lower East Side basketball coach brought Jewish Americans and African Americans together in the sport for the first time. Who was he? What did he do? Was he Jewish?
For the first time, the full article on Major Hart, from “Inside ATF,” the monthly magazine of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Recently, I got this correspondence from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (A.T.F.).
One hundred years ago this October, in 1910, the first all-black play-for-pay team, the New York All Stars, were formed in New York City.
On October 13, 1910, history was made when Major A. Hart formed the first all-black play-for-pay basketball team, a new squad called the New York All Stars.
The New York All Stars were the first African American basketball team to play the sport for financial gain.
4,300
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 ![]()
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#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