Vann experienced firsthand: Ibid., pp. 81–86.
Of all the battles Vann waged: Ibid., pp. 81–86.
something bold needed to be done: Ibid., pp. 119–21.
Robert Abbott: John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 1–12.
Ira Lewis made a special trip to Chicago: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 119.
“more sensational and morbid stories”: Ibid., p. 132.
growing roster of memorable writers: Ibid., pp. 136–45.
Julia Bumry was destined: “Julia Bumry Jones 1895–1945,” Homewood Cemetery Historical Fund, facebook.com/The-Homewood-Cemetery-Historical-Fund/.
Vann and the Courier lost Cap Posey: “C. W. Posey Is Victim of Illness,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 13, 1925, p. 1.
he decided to splurge on a Cadillac: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 117.
“NAACP ‘SLUSH FUND’ AIRED”: Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 9, 1926, p. 1.
Johnson gave a hot-tempered address: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 152.
“SLUSHES OVER SLUSH FUND”: Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 23, 1926, p. 1.
Du Bois joined the attack: The Crisis, no. 127, Jan. 27, 1927.
“The old boy is dead on his feet”: “The Black Man’s Balance, 1926,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 1, 1927, p. 20.
virtually every black newspaper: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 159–60.
“ ‘BURY THE HATCHET’ ”: Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 14, 1929, p. 1.
“I am glad it happened”: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 161.
The second battle: Ibid., pp. 161–71.
When Randolph came to Pittsburgh: “Randolph Receives Ovation at Loendi,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 19, 1927, p. 1.
Vann made no bones: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 163.
Vann called for Randolph’s resignation: “Open Letter to Pullman Porters and Maids,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1928, p. 1.
Randolph was irate: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 168–71.
Vann’s top priority: Ibid., pp. 171–73.
the job of writing about the new press: “Grad Student at Pitt Hails Courier’s Plan as Great Achievement,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 14, 1928, p. 8.
H. L. Mencken praising the Courier: “ ‘Courier Best’ Says Mencken,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 20, 1930, p. 1.
“the Great White Father”: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 172.
Mike Benedum had always had a nose: “Michael Benedum’s Enduring Lessons,” Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation 2008 Annual Report.
Benedum asked his black valet: “Races: Elks and Equality,” Time, Aug. 12, 1935, pp. 9–10.
“What has the Negro ever gotten”: “Races: Elks and Equality,” Time, Aug. 12, 1935, pp. 9–10.
It was a bitter conclusion: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 1975–190.
the Courier endorsed Calvin Coolidge: “For President, in 1924, Calvin Coolidge,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 25, 1923, p. 16.
the blame for the patronage slights: “Voices of the City,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 8, 1930, p. 13.
“Neediest Family Drive”: “Courier Gang Does Its Bit for Needy,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 6, 1930, p. 1.
to go through Guffey’s closest adviser: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 191.
a Hill resident named Eva Deboe Jones: “Eva DeBoe Jones, 90, Political Legend, Buried,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 25, 1967, p. 2.
“Mr. Vann’d like to see your brother”: Joseph Alsop and Robert Kitner, “Behind the Headlines,” The Spokesman Review, Nov. 1, 1938, p. 2.
at first Guffey wasn’t interested: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 192.
Guffey was persuaded: Ibid., pp. 192–93.
he was presented with just such an opportunity: Ibid., p. 193.
“The Patriot and the Partisan”: Full text in Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 17, 1932, p. 12.
Vann paid to have pamphlets: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 194; “You Can Get One,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 5, 1932, p. 1.
one of FDR’s most memorable speeches: “Campaign Address on the Federal Budget at Pittsburgh,” Franklin D. Roosevelt, Oct. 19, 1932, The American Presidency Project, presidency.ucsb.edu.
Julia Bumry Jones, who gushed: “Talk O’ Town,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 22, 1932, p. 9.
scores of the black residents: “5th Ward Republicans ‘Go Democratic’ . . . ,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 5, 1932, p. 3.
a majority of blacks on the Lower Hill: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 197.
Negroes had tipped the race: “Close to 2,000,000 Negroes Voted,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 19, 1932, p. 2.
the hard evidence: Nancy J. Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the Age of FDR (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 30–31.
no less an authority: Alsop and Kitner, “Behind the Headlines.”
FDR didn’t need much persuading: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 198–99.
big enough news: “The Presidency,” Time, July 31, 1933, p 9.
some of the most powerful men: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 199–202.
a banquet that Ira Lewis threw: “Talk O’ Town,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 5, 1933, p. 9.
After the testimonials: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 202.
4. THE RISE AND FALL OF “BIG RED”
In the early afternoon of April 29, 1932: Chester A. Washington, “Sportively Speaking,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 7, 1932, p. 15.
a classic pitching duel: “Hubbard Pitches Three-Hit Game to Beat Paige, 1 to 0,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 7, 1932, p. 15.
William Augustus Greenlee was born: John N. Ingham and Lynne B. Feldman, African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 298–99.
He was assigned to the 367th Infantry: Emmett J. Scott, The American Negro in the World War, 1919, Chap. 11.
a shrapnel wound: Rob Ruck, Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1993), p. 138.
Greenlee’s taxicab was waiting for him: Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders, pp. 298–99.
Police promptly raided it: “Gambling and Clubs Are Also Under Ban,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, March 25, 1925, p. 3.
more credible accounts: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, pp. 140–41.
“Teenie Little Lover”: Laurence Glasco, “An American Life, an American Story: Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris and Images of Black Pittsburgh,” in Cheryl Finley, Laurence Glasco, and Joe W. Trotter, Teenie Harris Photographer: Image, Memory History (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), p. 2.
Working as “cut buddies”: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, p. 146.
Greenlee and Harris usually derived their numbers: Ibid., p. 140.
their runners filled the streets: “Numbers Racket Menaces ‘Hill’ Real Estate Values,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 26, 1930, p. 1.
a brutal August heat wave: “Fields Afire as Dry Spell, Heat Continue,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 4, 1930, p. 2.
gamblers wrote the simplest number: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, pp. 144–45.
a nightclub he called the Crawford Grill: “Gus Greenlee” entry on Pittsburgh Music History Web blog, sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory.
a vice squad barged into the Crawford Grill: “Jewish Syndicate Claims Concession on ‘Numbers’ Through Aid of Vice Squad,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 10, 1934, p. 1.
police used axes and crowbars: “Six Are Taken in Numbers Raid,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 10, 1934, p. 3.
Greenlee courted the Republican politicians: “Gus Greenlee (Big Mogul of Pittsburgh),” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 19, 1932, p. 8.
Greenlee hired a part-time publicist: Mark Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness: The Life of Josh Gibson in the Shadows of the Game (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 76.
One of his closest white friends: Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson, and Michael P. Weber, Rooney: A Sporting Life (Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press,
2010), p. 80.
the Crawfords had assembled a raw but imposing roster: Jim Bankes, The Pittsburgh Crawfords (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2001), pp. 16–17.
The players decided to approach Greenlee instead: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, pp. 152–53.
Cum Posey introduced night baseball: “Grays-Monarchs Set for Night Games Here,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 19, 1930, p. 14.
Cum Posey may have been a late bloomer: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, pp. 130–36.
“Posey played the saint”: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, p. 16.
the Grays projected an image: Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness, pp. 73–74.
The morning of the game: “Grays-Monarchs Set for Night Games Here,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14.
a problem became apparent: Judy Johnson account in Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 38–39.
According to another version: Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness, pp. 42–43.
his economical hitting technique: Ibid., pp. 33–34.
the longest drive they had ever seen at Forbes Field: “Grays Set for Lincoln Series,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 20, 1930, p. 15.
the stuff of baseball legend: Rob Neyer, “Did Gibson Hit One Out of Yankee Stadium?,” ESPN.com, May 19, 2008.
praised the 1930 Grays: “Ches Sez,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1930, p. 15.
Posey proclaimed it as good as a world championship: “Grays Undisputed Champs,” Cum Posey, Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 10, 1931, p. 15.
There hadn’t been one single unified black league: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 3–11.
Posey called for the formation of a new “East-West League”: “ ‘Cum’ Posey’s Pointed Paragraphs,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 30, 1932, p. 15, Feb. 13, 1932, p. 15.
Gus Greenlee was turning the upstart Crawfords: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 3–11.
an impressive no-hit shutout: “Streeter Pitches No Hit Game Here,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 13, 1931, p. 14.
Greenlee seized an opportunity: Larry Tye, Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend (New York: Random House, 2009), pp. 51–58.
living up to his nickname: Leroy (Satchel) Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever (Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press,1993), pp. 17–18.
When the day came: Tye, Satchel, p. 68.
a private celebration: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 63–65.
a list of high-handed conditions: “Crawfords’ Owner Makes First Statement About the Team, New Park and Plans,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 27, 1932, p. 14.
a professional-quality stadium: John L. Clark, “The Rise and Fall of Greenlee Field,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 10, 1938, p. 17.
Greenlee went to war: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, p. 22.
Gibson had signed a new contract: Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness, p. 84.
Greenlee had the more binding contract: “Crawfords, Grays Claim Gibson for ’32 Season,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 6, 1932, p. 14.
a tour of the sunny South: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, p. 22.
he arranged for wealthy black families: “I Believe You Should Know,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 16, 1932, p. 15.
“CRAWFORD’S BASKING IN SPA’S SUNLIGHT”: Pittsburgh Courier, April 2, 1932, p. 15.
he invited Robert L. Vann to throw out the first pitch: “Courier ‘Chief’ in Action,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 7, 1932.
Cum Posey threw in the towel: “Sports Shots, by W. Rollo Wilson,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 4, 1932, p. 14.
The Grays agreed to merge: “Grays, Detroit to Merge; League Shifts Loom,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 11, 1932, p. 15.
Several players became so worried: “Sportively Speaking,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 2, 1932, p. 15.
Cum Posey was still finding ways to snub him: “Posey Picks Foster, Lundy, Wilson on All-Star Team,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 19, 1932, p. 15.
Greenlee targeted Cool Papa Bell: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 48–49.
Satchel Paige swore he once saw: William “Brother” Rogers, “Cool Papa Bell,” Mississippi Historical Society Website, mississippihistory.org.
In an open letter: “Posey Reveals Why Grays Left Nat’l Ass’n,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 8, 1933, p. 14.
Clark fired back: “Clark Continues Exposure on Grays’ League Status,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 29, 1933, p. 15.
the idea of a black all-star game: “Posey’s Points,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 15, 1942.
Played on a raw, rainy September day: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 94–95.
Gus Greenlee had made good on his vow: Ibid., pp. 48, 70–81.
Paige recalled going 31–4: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, p. 75.
Greenlee claimed that Josh Gibson: Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness, p. 121.
In a defiant piece in the Courier: “Negro National League Clubs to Be Called to Powwow Soon,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 16, 1933, p. 14.
Greenlee was making plenty of money: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 65–73.
the best season of his career: Tye, Satchel, pp. 65–66.
More than ten thousand fans: “Paige Hurls No-Hit Classic,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 7, 1934, p. 1.
Bewildered by the way Paige’s fastball: Tye, Satchel, p. 67.
Gus Greenlee gloated while Cum Posey fumed: Pittsburgh Courier, July 7, 1934, p. 15.
the second East-West Classic: “As ‘Speedball’ Satchel Paige Ambled into the East-West Game and Simply Stole the Show,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 1, 1934, p. 14.
“It’s Paige”: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, p. 82.
In the Chicago Daily Times: “Writer Calls East-West Tilt Most Colorful in Sports History,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 8, 1934, p. 15.
Big Red showed his gratitude: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 86–88.
“ ‘Satch’ Says ‘I Will’ Twice”: Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 3, 1934, p. 4.
“a powerful lightness”: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, p. 86.
“Heroes come and go”: “Ches Sez,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 20, 1935, p. 14.
the Crawfords were so good by 1935: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 72–73.
Paige had found his year in Bismarck stressful: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 88–90.
As the 1936 season began: “Flash—Satchell Paige Returns to Crawfords—Flash,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 25, 1936, p. 14.
When the Crawfords reached New Orleans: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 115–20.
It appeared that Rafael Trujillo: Bankes, Pittsburgh Crawfords, pp. 105–7.
he was in no position to fight back: Ingham and Feldman, African-American Business Leaders, p. 303.
Greenlee Field had become a perennial money-loser: Clark, “The Rise and Fall of Greenlee Field.”
Paige soon pulled out: Paige, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, pp. 119–20.
But when Paige approached Greenlee: Tye, Satchel, pp. 117–18.
His name was Rufus “Sonnyman” Jackson: “Ches Sez,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 2, 1937, p. 14.
“GRAYS GET GIBSON”: Pittsburgh Courier, March 27, 1937, p 16.
That turned out to be an understatement: Ruck, Sandlot Seasons, pp. 170–74.
Cum Posey began to take a public stand: “Pirates Owner Would Favor Sepia Players in Organized Baseball; Lauds Gibson, Satchel,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 12, 1938.
John L. Clark didn’t hide his bitterness: Clark, “The Rise and Fall of Greenlee Field.”
5. BILLY AND LENA
In the fall of 1935: David Hajdu, Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996), pp. 22–29.
A wiry go-getter: Ralph E. Koger Westinghouse High School yearbook entry, 1932, ancestry.com.
he filed stories to the Courier: “Junior Branch NAACP,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 12, 1931, p. 9.
According to the posters: “Flyer from the Strayhorn inspired 1935 high school musical Fantastic Rhythm,” Media Gallery, billystrayhorn.com
.
“Musical Divorces”: “Junior Jottings,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 26, 1934.
Strayhorn outdid himself: “Westinghouse Grads Honored by Keystone Civic League, Inc.,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 22, 1935, p. 3.
On the second day of November: “ ‘Fantastic Rhythm’ Is Big Success,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 9, 1935, p. 9.
Despite a torrential rainstorm: “ ‘Fantastic Rhythm’ Shows Real Talent,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 16, 1935, p. 3.
In his youth: Hajdu, Lush Life, pp. 3–12.
“a black teacher associated with Volkwein’s”: Ibid., p. 12.
the distinctive way she wore her hair: Charlotte Catlin photos, Teenie Harris Archive, Carnegie Museum of Art, teenie.cmoa.org.
Catlin was also descended: Frank Bolden, “The Enty Family, 1783–,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 4, 1950, p. 18.
Charlotte’s mother’s family story: Ibid.
The man Charlotte married: Details of the Enty/Catlin family of 7425 Monticello Street, Pittsburgh, in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, ancestry.com.
In her early twenties: “Chapter History,” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, akapitts burghaao.net.
connected to a musical tradition: Laurence A. Glasco, ed., The WPA History of the Negro in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004), pp. 307–25.
a man arrived on a steamboat: Ibid., pp. 325–33.
In Duquesne: Stanley Dance, The World of Earl Hines (New York: Da Capo, 1983), pp. 7–32.
Opened in 1916: “Schenley High School to Open with Fall Term, Pittsburgh Daily Post, Sep. 17, 1916, p. 14.
But he also continued to seek knowledge: “Earl Hines Explains His Influences and Technique,” youtube.com.
“a kind of genius”: Dance, World of Earl Hines, p. 20.
“If I catch you here again”: Ibid., pp. 31–32.
Earl Hines did come back: “Earl Hines Returns Friday for Week’s Engagement at Stanley,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 4, 1932, p. 17.
among the best jazz performances: Jeffrey Taylor, “Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and ‘Weather Bird,’ ” The Musical Quarterly 82, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 1–40.
At the age of six: Linda Dahl, Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (Berkeley: University of California Press,1999), pp. 3–36.
another Pittsburgh high school: “Westinghouse High School Dedicated; Portrait of Its Patron Is Presented,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, May 27, 1925, p. 5.
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