THE NEWS FROM HARRISBURG
By Paul Debono
The Negro League Committee ( NLC) of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) met August 7-9 , 1998 in Harrisburg, PA to further the cause of telling the history of Negro League baseball. In recent years the legend of Negro League baseball history has been somewhat in the limelight. Number "42" was retired in perpetuity in 1997. Cooperstown opened the doors to Willie Foster, Leon Day, Bullet Rogan, Willie Wells, Sam Lacy and Larry Doby. Television documentaries, cybermedia, a steady crop of books and articles about Negro League baseball has brought the history to a new generation. Major and minor leagues teams all over the country have celebrated the Negro Leagues by playing in Negro League replica uniforms. No matter what the format, the rich history telling has been made possible largely by members of the Negro League Committee of SABR .
For more than 20 years the NLC has gone about the business of collecting statistics by scanning newspaper microfilm, maintaining lists of players-- keeping track of where veteran players are and how they are health-wise. The NLC is also a strong, if unofficial, advocacy for former players. Whether support involves petitioning MLB, the HOF or spending a few moments in a nursing home; the NLC tries to be there.
Harrisburg '98 represented the largest known gathering of black baseball chroniclers ever. Among attendees was Robert Peterson author of the ground-breaking work Only the Ball Was White (1970). Peterson's book was the first accounting of black baseball and the starting point for all who have studied its history.
John Holway, author of several intimate accounts Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues, Black Ball Stars, and Black Diamonds, was also in attendance. Holway led a chorus of praise for Bob Peterson and a lively discussion of Hall of Fame admissions for Negro League players. Holway recounted going to Cooperstown years ago with the head of the ACLU, in an appeal to open gallery to the worthy black pros of yesteryear-- only to have the door slammed in their face courtesy of an HOF legal team. Three delegates from Cooperstown were on hand at the Harrisburg conference; evidence that the HOF has changed their tune--at least a bit.
There were approximately 60 registered participants and along with the old guard were a lot of new faces. Several former Negro League players, and sculptor Dan Edwards who has sculpted 15 or so players were also special guests. Twelve research presentations were given, noteworthy among them: Bill Plott's quest to unravel the history of black professional baseball in the Deep South; Chicagoan Mike Marsh's research into the life story of black sports journalist Wendell Smith and Dr. Leslie Heaphy's work on "Publicity and Media Coverage in the Negro Leagues". Locals Calobe Jackson, Eric L. Smith and Fredrico Brillhart contributed interesting details on Harrisburg's role in the Negro League. Written copies of many of the presentations are available through Dick Clark, NLC, SABR. (tstearnes@aol.com).
The previously noted success of recent years has left historians and fans to wonder "what's next?" Using the volume and content of research presented at Harrisbuurg as a barometer, it appears the trend will be a continual steady output and demand for Negro Leauges stuff.
Harrisburg was a generous host city. Mayor Stephen Reed personally went out of his way to welcome the committee; the AA Harrisburg Senators donned wooly Harrisburg Giants uniforms in the heat of August for the benefit of the conference; the support of Pennsylvania Humanities Council and numerous other local entities helped fund the meeting and allowed for a special sculpture exhibit.
For me the highlight of the conference was listening as Robert Peterson described the writing and marketing of the classic Only the Ball Was White. It wasn't easy to find a publisher. Reprint editions of the book were very slow to come out. Peterson's later proposal for a book on Josh Gibson was rejected. Interesting too; was Bob's story about his baseball playing days with a semi-pro team from Warren Valley, PA and a series of games he played in against the Indianapolis Clowns.
In all it was an enriching weekend and a chance for researchers to renew their committment. A tip of the cap goes to NLC member Ted Knorr who was the prime mover in making the long wished for conference a reality.
--NLC member since 1989, Paul Debono is the author of The Indianapolis ABC's: A Premier Team in the Negro Leagues (McFarland, 1997)
pdebono@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~pdebono.