Exhibit Uncovers the 'Negro Leagues' of Basketball
'The Black Fives' Opening at the New-York Historical SocietyBy SOPHIA HOLLANDER
March 13, 2014 9:33 p.m. ET
Claude Johnson never intended to dedicate his life to the history of basketball's early segregated leagues.
At first, he says, his interest in the African-American teams of the early 1900s focused simply on selling their retro jerseys. But over the last decade, his vision broadened as he began amassing artifacts from dozens of all-black teams—known as "Black Fives"—that competed before the National Basketball Association integrated in 1950. His quest to chronicle their all-but-hidden history will reach a milestone on Friday when "The Black Fives," the first major exhibition on the topic, opens at the New-York Historical Society.
"It's been such a struggle," said Mr. Johnson, who guest-curated the exhibit and is founder and executive director of the Black Fives Foundation.
The exhibition features some 150 artifacts from Mr. Johnson's collection, including vintage equipment, an original jersey and contract, ticket stubs, letters and newspaper clippings. Through it, one can trace the evolution of African-American history over that time, museum officials said.
From business to civil rights, "all these historical lineages get involved in this one specific story," said Stephen Edidin, chief curator at the historical society.
The first organized black basketball team was formed in Brooklyn in 1906 by the Smart Set Athletic Club. A network of amateur teams sponsored by community groups, churches, social groups and local athletic associations quickly sprung up.
The Smart Set team, called the "Grave Diggers" because the players said they buried their opponents, were amateur efforts "like summer camp," recalled the great-granddaughter of the club's founders, author Gail Lumet Buckley. "It was very important, though, in the black middle-class world of New York and Harlem."
Basketball was a way to protect against bad influences and promote the "uplift of the race," Mr. Johnson writes.
The number of high-profile amateur teams peaked around 1910, when dozens of squads competed across the country. Businesses, newspapers, clothing stores, factories and theaters all created teams. Barred from all-white gymnasiums, players found spaces in the church basements, casinos and dance halls. Promoters frequently invited bands to perform and advertised postgame dances to attract more fans, Mr. Johnson said.
Teams cautiously began to professionalize, he said, adopting names that advertised their race—like the Harlem Globetrotters (founded in Chicago) or the Colored Giants. Harlem was a brand, but it was also protection. "You don't want a black team to show up when nobody was expecting a black team," Mr. Johnson said. "That was a risky undertaking."
He bought most of his collection's items on eBay. There was rarely a bidding war. Unlike the history of baseball's Negro Leagues, "no one's interested," he said.
That might be traced to essential differences between the sports, said Matt Zeysing, curator and historian at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Baseball always pitched itself as a timeless "national pastime"—its open-air stadiums and greenery evoking a rural past. By contrast, basketball evolved as an indoor, urban sport. Cities are fundamentally forward-looking, he said, and the sport reflects that character.
Although teams were largely segregated, games sometimes pitted white and black teams against each other. Winning wasn't without its consequences, said Karen Isaacs, the daughter of John Isaacs, who starred for one of the most famous teams, the New York Renaissance, or the Rens. "They would have to rush them out of the gym before things started to flare up," she said.
The Rens and Globetrotters were the only two African- American squads—out of 12 total teams—invited to participate in the first professional basketball championship in 1939. The Rens won the title.
"That ... caused the public to realize that black basketball talent was here to stay and it was first rate," Mr. Johnson said.
Still, life wasn't easy. Mr. Isaacs worked for an insurance company in the Bronx for decades, earning enough money to continue playing basketball. Although he played for the country's top professional teams, he earned about $100 a month, his daughter said.
Near the end of his life, Mr. Isaacs made a push to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but failed before he died in 2009 at 93 years old. His name is still on the ballot, Mr. Zeysing said. The number of African-American players from that era is capped at one inductee a year.
Mr. Johnson initially licensed the jerseys and began selling them. But in 2003, a security guard in Philadelphia was moved to tears as Mr. Johnson described the merchandise's back story. He realized "there's something else here," he said.
Last year, he dissolved his company and created the Black Fives Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading the story.
"There's a better karma" now, he said. He dreams the NBA "will really embrace this" and players and college teams will pause to take in the exhibit: "We're all part of this bigger picture."
Indeed, the early black Brooklyn teams were honored last year at the Barclays Center, home of the Nets. Mr. Johnson worked with arena officials to select six team photographs that were installed in the main concourse.
They were astonished to learn the history, said David Berliner, chief operating officer of Forest City Ratner Cos., which developed the arena. "Exceptional athletes who helped shape this modern game need to be rediscovered," he said.
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