After World War I, some veterans from Company E of the 372nd Colored Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, formed a basketball team.
The second in a series of posts honoring vintage all-black U.S. military basketball teams.
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After World War I, some veterans from Company E of the 372nd Colored Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, formed a basketball team.
The team was based in Springfield, Ohio, where many of the men that made up Company E had originally been called up to active duty from the 9th Separate Colored Infantry Battalion of the Ohio National Guard.
The Company E squad played other African American basketball teams in the region, including the Center Street Colored YMCA of Springfield and the Pioneers, Keystones, and Swastikas of nearby Cleveland.
The basketball team of Company E, 372nd Colored Infantry Regiment, circa 1920.
More incredible details about the famous and highly decorated 372nd Regiment (as well as a stunning team poster you can download) are available on the team’s profile page at BlackFives.com.
I also wrote a previous shout out honoring this unique and courageous band of players.
(Please join the new Facebook Group honoring vintage all-black U.S. military basketball teams.)
(Photo courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society.)
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Greeting, I have been viewing your website for 6 months, I say, I have received a black five basketball history education. Thank you. The website http://www.hoopedia.nba.com has on its homepage, “African American and basketball”. They have a picture of Isadore Channels, phillip 1925 basketball team and Olive Baptist church Cosmopolitan team 1927.
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I love this story. My grandfather Sanco Thompson, Sr., fought with t he famous 371st Infantry Regiment 93rd Division, (Colored), during World War I. The 372nd was also part of the 93rd Division. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sonya R. Hodges
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Hi Sonya, thanks for sharing. The full amazing story of black troops in combat and in support roles during World War I remains mostly untold. But I hope not for long.
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