a self-help lecture reminiscent of Robert L. Vann: “Making Good in Baseball,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 27, 1946, p. 6.
a season-long love affair: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 104–7.
After the Royals won their final game: Ibid., pp. 107–10.
the irony of a white mob: “Fans ‘Mob’ Jackie in Great Tribute to Star,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 12, 1946, p. 1.
His only contribution: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 19, 1946, p. 12.
In January 1947, Josh Gibson: Mark Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness: The Life of Josh Gibson in the Shadows of the Game (New York: Simon & Schuster,1996), pp. 291–95.
cited the cause as a stroke: “Josh Gibson Dead,” Associated Press, Jan. 21, 1947.
Wendell Smith blamed a more insidious culprit: Ribowsky, The Power and the Darkness, pp. 297–98.
“46 the Greatest Year for Negro Athletes”: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 4, 1947, p. 12.
Rickey still had not made his intentions clear: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 18, 1947, p. 16.
Robinson sent a worried letter to Pittsburgh: Robinson letter to Smith, dated Feb. 4, 1947, NBHF archive.
he invited Smith and Robinson to a meal at the Tivoli Hotel: “Robinson Segregated in Panama?,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 29, 1947, p. 4.
He encouraged Jackie to be a “whirling demon”: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, p. 120.
Jackie more than rose to Rickey’s challenge: “Jackie Bats .667 in Tilts,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 29, 1947.
the word he had so long awaited finally arrived: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 120–21.
Smith shared the historic scoop: “Jackie on First for Brooklyn,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 29, 1947, p. 1.
Smith reported on the resistance: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 12, 1947, p. 14.
That morning, a phone call awoke Jackie: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 123–24.
Arthur Mann walked into the press area: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, pp. 166–67.
When Robinson arrived at Ebbets Field: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, p. 126.
Sukeforth turned to his newest rookie: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, p. 167.
Courier editors pulled out all the stops: “Jackie Robinson Packing ’Em In,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 19, 1947, p. 1.
As Jackie emerged from the dressing room: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 19, 1947, p. 18.
“Ed Stanky, a great player”: “Jackie Robinson Says,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 19, 1947, p. 18.
Bill Nunn touted the paper’s role: “Let’s Take It in Stride,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 19 1947, p. 18.
Smith had more good news to report: “Jackie Robinson Bats .429 in First Week in Majors,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1947, p. 15.
Branch Rickey joked: “Fans Swamp Jackie; Public Affairs Out,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1947, p. 1.
more than five hundred letters piled up: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1947, p. 14.
The honeymoon didn’t last long: Robinson and Smith, My Own Story, pp. 128, 145.
The abuse didn’t end there: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, pp. 172–73.
the Courier exposed the source of the attacks: “Phillies Warned by Baseball Czar over Robinson Incident,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 10, 1947, p. 1.
dismissed the tormentors with a weary shrug: “Jackie Robinson Says,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 3, 1947, p. 15.
When the rumor reached Ford Frick: “Frick’s Actions Avert Big Strike,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 17, 1947, p. 14.
there was more razzing: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1947, p. 14.
what it was like now for Robinson on the road: Ibid.
they made a point of praising Hank Greenberg: “Jackie Robinsons Says,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 24, 1947, p. 14.
While in Pittsburgh, Smith was able: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 24, 1947, p. 14.
Robinson and Smith snuck off to play a round of golf: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947, p. 14.
By the time the Dodgers returned: “In Midst of Nine Game Hit Streak,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 28, 1947, p. 14.
Robinson’s success had also emboldened Bill Veeck: “The Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 12, 1947, p. 14.
Robinson’s nemesis, Joe Garagiola: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, pp. 184–85.
Smith predicted a contest between grit and brawn: “Wendell Smith’s Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 27, 1947, p. 13.
Smith chose to accentuate the positive: “Yanks Win; Jackie Big Factor in Dodgers Showing,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 11, 1947, p. 15.
he stood to make a well-earned killing: “Jackie’s Off to Hollywood,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 18, 1947, p. 1.
Wendell Smith received new opportunities: “About Wendell Smith,” NBHF archive.
a chill in their friendship: Rampersad, Jackie Robinson, pp. 206–7.
The excuse infuriated Smith: “Wendell Smith’s Sports Beat,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 19, 1949, p. 10.
Smith never stopped crusading: “Wendell Smith and Jim Crow” and “Wendell Smith and the Hall of Fame,” NBHF archive.
he devoted one of his last columns: “Black Manager Seen on Scene,” Chicago Sun-Times, reprinted in The Billings Gazette, June 4, 1947, p. 64.
“I won’t be satisfied”: Wendell Smith, “The Jackie Robinson I Knew,” The New Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 4, 1972, p 9.
From his sickbed, Smith wrote a remembrance: “Wendell Smith: The Jackie Robinson I Knew,” reprinted in the Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 4, 1972, p. 9.
When Smith himself died: Louis Martin, “We Mourn a Notable Friend,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 9, 1972, p. 3.
9. THE WOMEN OF “UP SOUTH”
Edna Chappell had grown tired: Evelyn Cunningham interview transcript, The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords, a film by Stanley Nelson, pbs.org/blackpress.
In Washington D.C., Jim Crow practices: “Courier Intensifies Crusade,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 18, 1947, p. 1.
P.L. Prattis had been credentialed: “Race Newsman (at Long Last) Admitted to Senate and House Press Galleries,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 22, 1947, p. 1.
Chappell was shaken by what she found: Cunningham transcript, Soldiers Without Swords.
the latest wave of black migrants: Joe W. Trotter and Jared N. Day, Race and Renaissance: African Americans in Pittsburgh Since World War II (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), pp. 44–89.
a two-year picketing campaign: “Break Job Barriers in Pittsburgh Department Stories,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 8, 1947, p. 22.
Homer S. Brown, a Pittsburgh judge: Trotter and Day, Race and Renaissance, pp. 59–60.
opportunities for returning white vets: “GI Joe Going Back to College,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 13, 1945, p. 11.
Joseph L. Murphy was an Irish kid: “Tests Show Veteran Was Right About Job,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 11, 1956, p. 17.
When white vets like Murphy needed money: “Banks to Open Office to Help Vets on Loans,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 9, 1945.
plans to return to full-time study: “30,000 Negro Soldiers Eye Post-War Education, Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 13, 1945, p. 2.
Yet Jim Crow restrictions: “300,000 Vets Lose GI Rights,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 24, 1950, p. 1.
Outraged by the findings: Arthur G. Klein, “Discrimination Against Veterans by Schools,” The Jewish Veteran, April 1947, pp. 11–12.
The resulting series: John H. Young, “The White South Speaks,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 6, 13, 20, 17, Feb. 3, 10, 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14, 1945.
But when Young interviewed the general: “No Post for Negro in Vets’ Administration,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 3, 1945, p. 1.
Charting the legislative path: “Congressional Wrangling May Leave GI Bill Hopeless Mess,” Pitts
burgh Courier, June 16, 1945, p. 3.
Young was able to report: “Easier for Veterans to Buy Homes Under Revised Bill,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 1, 1945, p. 1.
To investigate, Young traveled: “Rules May Make Vet Loans Difficult for Race GIs to Obtain,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 17, 1945, p. 9.
Young highlighted the plight of Negro soldiers: “Courier Launches Probe of Army’s Blue Discharges,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 20, 1945, p. 1.
a sympathetic member of the Senate Veterans Committee: “Courier Articles Put into Record,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 17, 1945, p. 1.
he received a delegation: “Extra! Newspaper Publishers Call on President Truman,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 2, 1945, p. 1.
When Truman met with the group a second time: “Publishers Laud Pres. Truman’s Fair Policy,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 9, 1946, p. 13.
The publishers were even more encouraged: “Publishers OK Truman Charter,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 6, 1948, p. 1.
praising a Courier story: “Truman Is Courier Fan,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 26, 1948, p. 1.
Truman turned evasive: John L. Clark, “It’s the South vs. Negro Vote,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 17, 1948, p. 1.
one reporter remained conspicuously bullish: David McCullough, Truman (New York: Touchstone, 1992), p. 710.
In Clark’s last dispatch before the election: “John L. Clark Says Truman May Win Vote in 23 States but Still Won’t Have Enough,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 30, 1948, p. 2.
Clark chalked it up to the black vote: “Negro Vote in 3 Key States Big Factor in Dems’ Victory,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 13, 1948, p. 1.
no racial segregation at his Inaugural Balls: “Truman Wasn’t Kidding!,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 18, 1948, p. 1.
Lewis suffered a fatal stroke: “Nation Mourns Courier President,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 4, 1948, p. 1.
Jesse Vann was in her office: “Toki Types,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 5, 1949, p. 8.
On a warm Georgia evening: Caela Abrams, “Bullets and Ballot Boxes: The Isaiah Nixon Story,” The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project, Emory University, scholarblogs.emory.edu.
Yvonne, as she was known within the family: In Courier stories about the Nixon family cited in this chapter, the name of the third child was spelled “Evarn.” In fact, the name on her birth certificate was “Dortha Evon.” As explained to me by Dorothy Nixon Williams, the married name she goes by now, her parents didn’t know how to spell her intended name. Only when she began school did she discover the correct spelling and become known outside the family as Dorothy. When she retired many years later, she had her given names legally changed to Dorothy Yvonne.
Announcing Nixon’s death: “Georgia Negro Fatally Shot After Demanding His Vote,” Pittsburgh Press, Sep. 12, 1948, p. 1.
The judge also ruled: Abrams, “Bullets and Ballot Boxes.”
When Rivera got to Alston: “Nixon Family Missing,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 4, 1948, p. 1.
Eventually Rivera received a tip: “Courier Finds Nixons,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1948, p. 1.
Evelyn Cunningham was working: Yanick Rice Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham: The Pittsburgh Courier’s ‘Lynching Editor,’ ” submitted to Journal of Women’s History, June 2014, yanickricelamb.com.
an aunt who was dating Edgar Rouzeau: Evelyn Cunningham interview for National Visionary Project, visionaryproject.org.
she, too, yearned to do more: Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham”; Cunningham interview, National Visionary Project.
she had a bold idea: “Toki Types,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 17, 1949, p. 8.
Evelyn Cunningham on the front page: “Christmas for Nixons Will Be Real!,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 25, 1948, p. 1.
In a poignant profile: “Fear of Whites Haunts Nixons, Writer Reveals,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 1, 1949, p. 1.
Cunningham profiled the Nixon children: “Nixon Kids Like All Others, Except—,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan, 8, 1949, p. 1.
hundreds of Courier readers sent donations: “Sports, Theatrical Worlds Join Nixon Fund Campaign,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 22, 1949, p. 1.
Sallie Nixon traveled north: “Sallie Nixon Finds Warm Hearts in Ice-Cold North,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 5, 1949, p. 1.
the most famous black architect in America: Karen E. Hudson, Paul R. Williams, Architect (New York: Rizzoli,1993).
Jesse Vann traveled to Jacksonville: “Nixon Family in New Home,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 24, 1949, p. 1.
touted “The Women” as “spicy reading”: Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 12, 1952, p. 5.
the absence of data about black women: “Race Women Not Included,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 29, 1953, p. 1.
“Race Leaders with Sex Appeal”: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 9, 1952, p. 10.
the “Groveland Four” case: Gilbert King, Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America (New York: HarperCollins, 2012).
Cunningham was one of a handful of reporters: “Move Wounded Prisoner from Hospital to Jail,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 17, 1951, p. 1.
Cunningham went to Irvin’s home: “Irvin’s Parents Bent with Grief by New Events,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 17, 1951, p. 4.
teased her when he saw a man’s byline: Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham.”
Cunningham recalled one night: Juan Williams, Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary (New York: Times Books, 1998), pp. 191–92.
he allowed Cunningham into their inner sanctum: “Legal Aces Battling Segregation,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 12, 1953, p. 13.
When the justices heard the arguments: “Washington Pipeline,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 12, 1953, p. 13.
a joint Courier-NAACP fundraising drive: “ ‘EE’ Fund Hits $13,000 Mark,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 12, 1953, p. 1.
“SCHOOLS WILL BE MIXED!”: Pittsburgh Courier, May 29, 1954, p. 1.
“School Decision Fails to Excite Southern Mothers!”: Pittsburgh Courier, May 29, 1954, p. 3.
Roy Wilkins: “Roy Wilkins . . . NAACP’s Man of the Hour,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 25, 1955, p. 24.
Marian Anderson: “Marian to Courier: ‘Never Gave Up Hope,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 16, 1954, p. 1.
Emmett Till’s murder: “Harlem Protests Lynching,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 1, 1955, p. 1.
In January 1956: Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988), pp. 143–68.
When Cunningham arrived in Montgomery: Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham.”
Rather than wait to be arrested: “Montgomery’s Folks Prove Negroes Can Get Together,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 3, 1956, p. 4.
she attended the first MIA meetings: “ ‘More Determined than Ever,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, March 3, 1956, p. 3.
Cunningham wrote a status report: “Confidential Report from the Courier’s Evelyn Cunningham,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 3, 1956, p. 3.
calling more than thirty black citizens: “Tired of Being Called ‘Apes,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, March 31, 1968, p. 2.
she opened up to her female readers: “The Women,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 10, 1956, p. 33.
a “Man in the News” profile: “Battle Against Tradition,” New York Times, March 21, 1956, p. 28.
When they first met: Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham.”
the first truly personal profile of King: “The Life Story of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 7, 1956.
Cunningham coaxed King’s wife: “Choosing the Ministry Was Not an Easy Decision but He Had No Trouble Selecting the Right Girl!,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1956, p. 6.
In the last story in her series: “Why and How This Young Pastor Became Leader of Bus Boycott,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 21, 1956, p. 6.
Covering the unrest in Birmingham, Alabama: Lamb, “Evelyn Cunningham.”
Eventually Cunningham landed another part-time job: Ibid.
Upon her death at the age of ninety-four: �
�On the Street; Luminous,” New York Times, May 16, 2010, accessed nytimes.com.
“What I Like About Dixie”: Pittsburgh Courier, July 7, 1956, p. 14.
10. THE BARD OF A BROKEN WORLD
Daisy Wilson had North Carolina roots: August Wilson, “Living on a Mother’s Prayer,” New York Times, May 12, 1996, p. E13.
reading was the one thing that Negroes needed: August Wilson, “Feed Your Mind, the Rest Will Follow,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 28, 1999, p. B1.
While she was shopping at a grocery store one day: John Lahr, “Been Here and Gone,” The New Yorker, April 16, 2001, p. 55.
“The first book he read by himself: Bill Moyers, “August Wilson: Playwright,” in Jackson R. Bryer and Mary C. Hartig, eds., Conversations with August Wilson (Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 2006), p. 66.
he had devoured all of the Hardy Boys books: Wilson, “Feed Your Mind.”
She enrolled him in the Holy Trinity School: Laurence Glasco and Christopher Rawson, August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, 2011), p. 64.
delighted in infuriating the nuns: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 55.
Freddy’s experience of his father: Ibid.
Daisy did her best: Ibid., pp. 54–55.
the Kittel children made friends: Laurence Glasco, “August Wilson and the Hill District,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 25, 2007, p. H6.
Daisy’s closest friends: Recollections of Burley in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, Sam Pollard, director, American Masters, PBS, 2014; Allen Rosenfeld, Charley Burley: The Life and Hard Times of an Uncrowned Champion (Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, 2007).
another lesson in standing tall: Dinah Livingston, “Cool August: Mr. Wilson’s Red-Hot Blues,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 47.
Julie Burley urged her friend: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 55.
David Bedford was a laborer: Ibid., p. 56; Mary Ellen Snodgrass, August Wilson: A Literary Companion (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004), p. 7.
an alarming rumor: Sala Udin, “Growing Up with August,” in Laurence Glasco and Christopher Rawson, August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays (Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, 2011), p. xvii.
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