Yesterday, I mentioned the 112th anniversary of the founding of the St. Christopher Club, the black athletic club that took root in Harlem. Today I want to make you aware that the St. Christopher Club was more than just a basketball team, and was actually much more well known for its successes in track and [...]
Yesterday, I mentioned the 112th anniversary of the founding of the St. Christopher Club, the black athletic club that took root in Harlem.
|
|
Today I want to make you aware that the St. Christopher Club was more than just a basketball team, and was actually much more well known for its successes in track and field. This was at a time when track and field was a headline-grabbing sport.
Here’s an excerpt from a 1914 article that appeared in the New York Times:
NEGRO ATHLETES WIN MANY HONORS
Season’s Performances Show Colored Runners to be Factors in A.A.U. Meets
Recent performances of the colored athletes in the Metropolitan District of the Amateur Athletic Union have attracted widespread attention and should a corresponding progress be made by them in the next three or four years many laurels now worn by white athletes will pass into the keeping of negroes. This success has been more noticeable during the last month than at any other time, and the fact that four titles were won by colored athletes at the recent small clubs championships, and negroes were prominent in the point table of the Metropolitan titel meet, has caused a flutter of excitement among the registered athletes of the A.A.U. Nor is the present crop of negro runners likely to suddenly cease, for there are many promising colored boys in the public schools of Greater New York.
That this article appeared prominently in the New York Times was remarkable by itself. At the time, it hadn’t been that long since the A.A.U. was still racially segregated. Even more amazing was the critical role that African American athletic clubs played in developing these athletes.
The Times continues:
Many of the colored athletes prominent in athletic circles were graduated from public schools in Greater New York, but, unlike former years, when promising colored athletes received little consideration or encouragement, the student upon graduation can now join a colored athletic organization and continue to compete. There are three negro athletic clubs in the metropolitan district, whcih are making rapid strides in the athletic world, and scarcely an open meet is now held that does not find representatives of these clubs in the list of competitors. These organizations are the Salem-Crescent A.C. and the St. Christopher’s Club of New York and the Smart Set A.C. of Brooklyn.
The success of these African American athletic clubs began with just a thought. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said on the bicentennial of the start of the “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” (April 19, 1875), “Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.” Thoughts do become things.
We might remember Emerson’s words as the 2008 Olympic Games begin in Beijing, China — with the motto, “One World, One Dream.”
When we look at the number of African American athletes on this year’s United States Olympic Track and Field Team, as well as on prior teams, I believe our country owes a debt of gratitude to the original pioneers — the men of the St. Christopher Club, the Smart Set Athletic Club, and others — who first thought to develop competitive track and field programs for African Americans when none previously existed.
We ought to to think about this each time we think about the U.S.A.’s medal count.
Those pioneers didn’t wait for permission. Instead, they decided to make history now.
Claude,
Again you are right on the mark when it comes to “our” hoop history. I love the fact that you put this history out there and that you give it due diligence. You are truly a blessing for all of us sports and history fans. Keep doing what you do so well.
Your friend,
T. Mack
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Having been raised in that small “RESORT” community of Gary, Indiana, attending Froebel High School, which was integrated in 1928, I often wondered how we all got together as people focused on the welfare of the other. At the ager of 14, I was accepted as an employee of United State Steel Corporation…the steel mills of Gary. Twenty six miles of mills along the shores of Lake michigan. I realized while working in the mills that negros migrating north from the southern states wanted a better life. Froebel High, had 2800 students and was one of five major schools located in Gary. This meant that the number one priority was to speak on the other persons level. When it came to athletics, truly, the Region, commonly known as “Da Region”, had the toughest competitors anywhere…and i mean anywhere in all sports. In 1941, war was declared which stripped many youth black and white from their homes to serve. The war deprived many of their young years of competition. I recall watching the great Joe Louis, playing golf at a small Par 9 hole golf course. Watching and working in the steel mills with Anthony Zaleski, known as the “Man of Steel”, one of the greatest middleweight boxers in the world. Listening to Cab Callaway and Duke Ellington playing across the street from Froebel High, at big time dances, then walking across the street to the Froebel High gym to see the Harlem New York Renaissance, play a game. Matter of fact, at the age of 14, I did scrimmage against them at the 11th Street Armory, in March of 1939…a saturday. The next day they went to Chicago and beat the Harlem Globetrotters in the finals for the Worlds Professional Basketball Championships sponsored by the Chicago Herald American Newspaper.
All the aforementioned that I have stated points to the door opening for integrated sports………………….tosh
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Claude,
Great article. This is very valuable research. Keep up the great work!
Tosh,
Care to share your personal insights as to how basketball was played way back then and what made the Rens so good?
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Tony, Bill, and Greg, thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments!
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Claude,
How did you come to the 102 anniversary? E B Henderson organize the first organized track and field meet for African Americans in 1906 under the auspices of the first black athletic league, The Interscholastic Athletic Association ( ISAA ), in Washington, DC at Howard University.
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Hey Ed, thanks for your visit, always appreciated! The 102nd anniversary is because the St. Christopher Club was founded in 1896. More …
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Thanks Ed.
I’m doing a book on Charles W. Major, a black high jumper in the late ’20′s, who attended st bonaventure in Olean New York. Major was the national hndoor high jump champion, and would have won the 28 Amsterdam olympics, had he not been injured, and had he been allowed to go. What a fascinating story. A man who migrated to New York from his native Nassau Bahamas, was beating all comers, in meets that he was allowed to compete in. I’d be interested in you or any of your bloggers have hany info on Major to send it on. In ’29 he competed for a club out of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Harriers (? need info)
Like / Dislike:
0 
0
Charles W. Major was my mentor. I am a media executive who started as a sports reporter in The Bahamas in 1967. I grew up in the same Eastern Area of New Providence as Charlie. I can provide you with lots of information about his life after he return home. However, I also would love have much more knowledge about him as a high school standout high jumper in the United States and also a colliate star. He held the national high jumjp record of 6-8 for over 40 years.
F. R. Sturrup
Like / Dislike:
0 
0