They also played: Black women in baseball

From 1943 to 1954, women played pro baseball in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The opportunity came because of World War II and the need to provide entertainment on the home front.

The league could have ended when the war was over, but it did not. Instead, hundreds more women got to play baseball through the 1954 season. But one group of women who did not get to play in the AAGPBL were Black women. That denial did not prevent them from playing, however. They found their own place on the diamond.

STORIES OF BLACK BASEBALL

Stories that highlight the lives and experiences of Black ballplayers through key moments in history, artifacts and baseball cards.

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Three Black women played in the Negro Leagues in the 1950s: Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Mamie Johnson. For most baseball fans, that is where the story begins and ends for Black women playing baseball, but that is not the full story. Black women have played the game from the sport’s earliest days. They played for fun and they played on organized teams, amateur to professional. Their story begins with the Dolly Vardens in the 1880s and continues to the present day with U.S. Women’s National Team player Naomi Ryan.

In 1883, newspapers started carrying stories of a team called the Dolly Vardens playing in the Philadelphia area. Reading these stories surprised many to discover the team was a roster of Black women. In fact, there were two Dolly Vardens teams playing around the city, and one of their opponents was another Black women’s team called Captain Jinks. Wearing their long skirts, colorful belts and caps, these ladies entertained fans with some high-scoring games that showed they were better hitters than fielders. Led by captain Ella Harris, the Dolly Vardens played a variety of local competition set up by organizer John Lang, though the results were rarely covered. Reporters tended to focus more on their attire and their gender than they did the actual games.

The St. Louis Black Bronchos, playing between 1910 and 1913, received better coverage than many of their earlier counterparts. The Black Bronchos traveled and played opponents throughout the Midwest. Under the direction of baseball promoter Conrad Kuebler, the Bronchos played from Tennessee to Oklahoma, drawing enough fans to encourage teams to continue to book them as a good game. One of their opponents was the Nashville Giants, whom they beat, 2-1, in a 13-inning game.

After a 9-9 road trip through Oklahoma in June 1911, the Bronchos headed to Texas that July, where they beat a team in Denison, 8-6, and two days later won, 3-2, in McKinney. A day later, the Bronchos prevailed, 6-3, in Mineral Wells.

Papers often advertised them as the “Only Female Negro Team on the Road.” This made them a novelty or curiosity for the fans — and sometimes for journalists who did not take them seriously. Still, several players stood out for their talent, such as Kitty McFadden, who received praise for her arm, and Nelly Carter, for her ability as a hitter and fielder. First baseman Leanna Wilson was credited with solid play in the field.

Scouring old newspapers reveals many Black women’s teams playing all over the country from the 1890s into the 1960s. There are even mentions of attempts to establish leagues in some areas of the country. In 1913, two girls’ teams in Arizona trained for over two months to play a charity game to raise money to help pay the debt of their African Methodist Episcopal church.

A 1920 Chicago bloomer team defeated a local boys’ club, 16-6, behind the pitching of Madam J. H. Caldwell. They won a doubleheader, 6-5 and 2-1, over another local boys’ club. Caldwell was the winning pitcher in the first game. Papers indicated her team played every Sunday in local parks on the South Side of the city. Caldwell was still leading her club to victory with a 10-6 win over the Washington Girls at a park in Gary, Ind., in 1922. The Eastside girls from Los Angeles played in a four-team league in the late 1920s. They were led by first baseman Genevieve Hawkins and pitcher Clarice Williams.

Throughout central New Jersey, the Nelson Bloomer Girls played men’s and women’s teams in the early 1930s. Under the pitching leadership of Hannah Marberry, the team compiled a 14-game winning streak in the summer of 1932. Lucille Albright hit two home runs to help Marberry win, 16-4, over a New Brunswick Black girls team. A Texas paper in 1933 advertised two teams — the Kingsville Girls and the Houston Girls — playing each other, though no follow-up story has been found. The same year in Omaha, Neb., a 10-team league was being created for African American women. Officers were elected and a call went out for players and other opponents to send in their interest to Lucille Fletcher. The Tampa Stars were credited with 26 consecutive wins after a 14-6 victory over the Polk County All-Stars on July 11, 1933. The Harlem Belles played in Los Angeles in 1936. Local papers lauded Maxidell Jones as the leading hitter and fielder on the team. Jones played second base, while Anna and Alma McCord added to their team’s strength with excellent play at third base and in center field.

Few individual players received extensive coverage — though some did. A good example of the typical coverage is found in a 1935 article talking about a Black female pitcher leading her Nacogdoches (Texas) team, hoping to play in Shreveport, La. The article never mentions the young lady’s name while talking about her skill in leading her club to victory. In contrast, on a June afternoon in 1927, Miss Pearl Corine Renfroe made the freshman baseball team at the University of Minnesota. She pitched her club to the all-University championship. The local paper explained she was the first Black girl to have such an opportunity. As a result of her achievements, she also made the varsity women’s team. Her athletic accomplishments were matched by her academic skills, especially in debate. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, she won a scholarship to attend the New York School of Social Service.

Another individual player to gain notice was Isabelle Baxter, playing for the Cleveland Giants in 1933. Baxter played second base for the Giants when they were an independent club and not part of the Negro Leagues. In a game against the Canton Clowns, Baxter was 1-for-3 at the plate while handling several plays in the field flawlessly. Her one mistake was a bad throw to first base after a tough play to knock down the ball. Baxter went on to have a successful softball and bowling career, well into the 1950s. A photo of Baxter as the Queen of softball appeared in the Cleveland Call and Post in September 1950.

Before Toni Stone got her opportunity to play for the Kansas City Monarchs and Indianapolis Clowns in the mid-1950s, she played in New Orleans. Stone, however, was not the first Black woman playing for a New Orleans team. Baseball executive Allen Page signed two young women in 1948 to play for the New Orleans Creoles. Fabiola Wilson and Gloria Dymond were college students who could play baseball. Both played the outfield and impressed their own manager as well as other baseball executives like Hank Rigney, owner of the Negro League Toledo Crawfords. Rigney praised both women for their range and ability to judge fly balls. They were not just a gate attraction but played on the field because they had skills.

Connie Morgan joined the Indianapolis Clowns after playing baseball and basketball in Philadelphia. One of her local teammates, Charlotte Shelton, dominated in baseball and basketball. They were joined on the local Sepia Stars by Jean McCray, Betty and Lucinda Mackey, Sonja Pinkney, Geneva Jefferson, Joan Channing, Ivy Anderson and Doris Jackson. These ladies all played multiple sports, but baseball, softball and basketball seemed to be the main attractions. Shelton and her teammates also played for the Rockettes and the Honeydrippers.

News accounts talk of the Sepia Stars heading to Canada to play the Burtons (a men’s club) in 1955. Acclaimed as the National Negro Women’s Champion in 1954, Babe Davis was credited with leading the club with a .450 average in 69 games. Their success made them a main attraction from the U.S. to Canada.

Discovering the stories of Black women who played baseball all over the country is a difficult task. Women’s baseball in general was never covered well, and it was even worse for Black women. Women were not supposed to be involved in sports like baseball since the game was meant for men. Women were only supposed to play softball. Sometimes teams were called baseball teams, but further research can often show the clubs were really playing softball, which complicates the efforts even more.

What we do know is the stories and names presented in this story are just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more history to uncover to help fill out the story of women in baseball.

Leslie Heaphy is a curatorial consultant for the Hall of Fame’s ongoing Black Baseball Initiative.

They also played: Black women in baseball

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