Today in U.S. military history: Lincoln calls up volunteers and Robinson breaks the color barrier

Unto the Breach ^ | 15 Apr 2017 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

1861: Following the capture of Fort Sumter by Confederate forces, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issues a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers (at the time, the Army consisted of just 16,000 men) to quell the rebellion.

Four years to the day later, Lincoln would die from John Wilkes Booth mortally wounding him with a gunshot to the back of the head at Ford’s Theater.

1947: Former platoon leader in the 761st “Black Panther” Tank Battalion Jackie Robinson breaks the “color barrier,” becoming the first black baseball player in the Major Leagues.

1961: B-26B Invader bombers, painted by the CIA to resemble Cuban Air Force planes, attack Cuban...

[fugazi]

As a soldier, Robinson was prevented from entering Officer Candidate School until intervention on his behalf by fellow soldier, heavyweight champion, and personal friend Joe Louis, and was court martialed for refusing to move to the back of the bus. He would later be acquitted and served as an athletic coach for soldiers until receiving an honorable discharge.

It is a horrible shame that segregation kept amazing players like Robinson out of the Major Leagues.

[BroJoeK]

ping

[Bigg Red]

It is a horrible shame that segregation kept amazing players like Robinson out of the Major Leagues.

***
Yes, and racial segregation held back many with other talents, as well. I am a native Marylander, and I remember when the classified pages were divided into job opportunities based on “colored” or “white”.

[Michael.SF.]

becoming the first black baseball player in the Major Leagues

He was the first in the 'Modern era', not the first in the majors.

[Leaning Right]

> I remember when the classified pages were divided into job opportunities based on “colored” or “white”. <

Yes. And before that it was (among others) No Irish Need Apply. From New York Daily Times of Mar 25, 1854:

[OttawaFreeper]

I bought a copy of Peter Golenbock’s book “BUMS” a few years ago and one Jackie Robinson story from that book I remember very well involves the Dodgers doing a tour of the South during training camp following the year they won the Series.

That was when it was just him and Roy Campanella were the only black players the Dodgers had. Even though Robinson had been voted both NL and Series MVP (if my memory serves me properly), he and Campanella both had to stay in the team bus and eat there while the team stopped in at a few places in the South that refused to allow blacks to sit with white customers, therefore both men were not allowed to eat with their teammates. Apparently, Campanella took the whole thing in stride and ate away at his food but Jackie was made very angry at the whole thing.

[Michael.SF.]

There is another shame associated with breaking the modern era colored barrier, that being the decline of the Negro Leagues. From the 30's into the early 50's the Negro Leagues offered major league caliber baseball in dozens of cities across the country. Players made a decent living and the teams were primarily owned by other blacks.

150 former Negro League players ended their careers in MLB.

[Vaquero]

Lots of NINA job postings. The “I” could stand for Irish or Italian.

[Bigg Red]

Oh,I am well aware of the discrimination against the Irish. (I am more than 3/4 Irish blood.) But I don’t have any personal recollection of the Irish discrimination, and there is nobody alive who remembers that.

The racial discrimination is much more recent. Those classified ads appeared in the 1960s.

[OttawaFreeper]

Would Hank Aaron be the last Negro League player who retired (in about 1976)? Of course, we all know what he was most famous for, but I wonder if that is another thing that he was also known for?

[Leaning Right]

> The racial discrimination is much more recent. <

I certainly agree. And it can be argued that the racial discrimination was much worse than the old ethnic discrimination, as the racial discrimination sometimes lead to violence.

But I think it’s important to point out that discrimination was very widespread. That’s something you already knew, but it’s also something young people need to know.

[Michael.SF.]

He would be yes. He played in the Negro Leagues in 1952, the last year, but only in a few games. Satchel Paige needs to be mentioned as his career was in the Negro leagues, but was also in MLB briefly. He was the oldest “rookie” to play I believe.

[Redwood71]

Moses Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker (October 7, 1856 – May 11, 1924) was an American professional baseball catcher who is credited with being the first openly black athlete to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). A native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and a star athlete at Oberlin College as well as the University of Michigan, Walker played for semi-professional and minor league baseball clubs before joining the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association (AA) for the 1884 season.

Though research suggests William Edward White was the first African-American baseball player in MLB, unlike White who passed as a white man, Walker was open about his black heritage, and often faced racial bigotry prevalent in the late 19th century. His brother, Weldy, became the second black athlete to do so later in the same year, also for the Toledo ball club. Walker played just one season, 42 games total, for Toledo before injuries entailed his release.

Walker played in the minor leagues until 1889, and was the last African-American to participate on the major league level before Jackie Robinson in 1947. After his baseball career, he became a successful businessman and inventor. As an advocate of Black nationalism, Walker also jointly edited a newspaper, The Equator, with his brother. He published a book, Our Home Colony (1908), to explore ideas about emigrating back to Africa. He died in 1924 at the age of 67.

red

[fugazi]

“He was the first in the ‘Modern era’, not the first in the majors.”

True.

Interestingly enough, the first black player in the modern era could well have been Larry Doby or Monte Irvin had it not been for World War II. But many of the most talented black ballplayers were still overseas (Doby serving as a sailor in the Pacific, and Irvin an Army engineer in Europe). Had Robinson not been discharged early, we could be celebrating “Larry Doby Day” today.

[fugazi]

Yes, by his final season in 1976, Hank Aaron was the last Major Leaguer to have played in the Negro Leagues

[reg45]

Maryland was a slave state. President-elect Lincoln was almost assassinated in Baltimore on the way to Washington, DC.

[Dilbert San Diego]

there also used to be job ads for help wanted, male, and help wanted, female. They don’t have such sex segregated ads anymore either.

[jmacusa]

I believe the residents of Maryland at the time wanted to secede from the Union but it's state government didn't.

[Michael.SF.]

You are correct regarding the war. There is another side to being ‘the first’ and that was temperament, the ability to take the initial abuse. Certainly Dolby and Irvin got their share but Robinson proved he could take it.

[Bigg Red]

Yes, Maryland was a slave state, and Lincoln was determined that the nation’s capital would not be surrounded by the Confederacy. So he dragged Maryland into the Union when there were many here who wanted to side with the CSA.

You can see that many Marylanders were not happy about this when you look at the lyrics of our state song:

http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/symbols/lyrics.html