Negro League Baseball in Tidewater,Virginia
| In the early years of Major League Baseball, which coincided with the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War, there was no color line. African-American ballplayers such as Bud Fowler, Frank Grant, Fleet Walker and Welday Walker adorned professional rosters during the 1870s and 1880s. However, with prejudices and racism rooted into society these Americans laid the foundation of the Negro Leagues.
This is one of many stories that has been researched and tells the tale of Negro League baseball in Tidewater, Virginia. This is synonymous with not only having one of the first professional Negro League teams, the Norfolk Red Stockings, but also being the only one Negro League baseball team to be located in the tradional south, not to mention numerous semi-professional baseball teams. Tidewater, Virginia offered a unique setting for the Negro Leagues. With the outbreak of World War I, Tidewater, Virginia, was pushed decades ahead in race relations however, many obsticles still needed to be overcome. Its location allowed for the sport to flourish and set the example as other professional teams sprouted up in the south. Virginia being close enough to the north to embrace northern ideals and show a little more of race equality, than the other southern states did however, it still held to it's deep heritage. |
| Primary Researcher Sean A. Edwards Senior, History Major Norfolk State University |
Dr. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander
Associate Professor of History
Norfolk State University