Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Spring 2011
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly 31:2 (Spring 2011).
Abstract
One of the most underappreciated aspects of American life and history is that of black baseball. Shortly after the invention of the game, African American men began playing as an expression of their status as middle-class professionals. These particular black men had access to leisure time and the disposable income necessary to acquire the proper equipment and pay the necessary fees to participate in organized play. During Reconstruction, formerly enslaved African American men who had been introduced to the game by Union soldiers used their ability to play the game as an expression of their independence, as well as a form of social mobility and economic prosperity. By the end of the nineteenth century and well into the early twentieth, the game spread throughout the United States and became an integral part of the development of various African American communities and individuals seeking to lay claim to the American dream.
Comments
Copyright © 2011 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.