The Black fives : the epic story of basketball's forgotten era / Claude Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Claude, 1960- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American basketball players--History.

African American basketball players.

African American athletes--History.

African American athletes.

Basketball teams--United States--History--20th century.

Basketball teams.

Basketball--United States--History--19th century.

Basketball.

Basketball--United States--History--20th century.

United States--Race relations--History--20th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (440 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Black 5s

Epic story of basketball's forgotten era

Place of Publication:

New York : Abrams Press, [2022]

Summary:

"African Americans were making moves in basketball generations before the rise of the NBA. Their pioneering efforts helped popularize the sport in big cities and small towns alike and shaped the game we know and love today. From the invention of the game in 1891 to the racial integration of all-White professional leagues int he 1950s, dozens of teams -- then often called "fives" -- of African American players were founded and flourished. This was a time of visionary players, managers, and impresarios who blazed a trail, battled discrimination and marginalization, and created rich, meaningful events that strengthened their communities in the face of Jim Crow oppression. But this era, known as the Black Fives Era, has been forgotten, overlooked, unacknowledged, and squashed. It is barely known today. For more than two decades, Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. A fiercely committed advocate, Johnson has researched, preserved, exhibited, taught, and honored this important African American experience, unearthing what might have remained buried in an unmarked grave. [This book] is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that braids together the stories of these pioneers and rewrites our understanding of the true history of the game." -- Book jacket flap.

Contents:

An unmarked grave

Survival

Seeds

Pittsburgh Pedigree

Rites of passage

Satan's circus

1901

Physical culture

St. Christopher

Great struggle for victory

A real corker

As our White friends play it

Wabash outlaws

Sport for sport's sake

A janitor's key

Virgil

Maddening

Supreme courts

Loendi

Outlaws

Democracy lads

The future of basketball

Out-and-outers

The new Negro

Chicago Crusaders

"True world champions"

World Series of basketball

The missing NBA team

Vindication.

Notes:

Title page verso indicates publication date as "2021," publisher's website states publication date as "May 24, 2022."

Includes bibliographical references (page 429-470).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781683359081

OCLC:

1336401890