West Coast Negro Baseball Association collection, 1945-1949

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Summary

Creators:
Harris, Eddie
Abstract:
The West Coast Negro Baseball Association was formed on March 9, 1946 at a meeting of the High Marine Social Club at the Elks Clubhouse in Oakland, California. The baseball league was spearheaded by two Berkeley firemen, Eddie Harris and David P. Portlock, who pitched the idea of forming a Negro baseball league on the West Coast that would use Pacific Coast League parks while teams were away. The West Coast Negro Baseball Association Collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records, by-laws, photographs, and ephemera related to the creation and operation of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association and the Oakland Larks.
Extent:
.75 linear feet (2 boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

West Coast Negro Baseball Association collection, MS 17, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The West Coast Negro Baseball Association Collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records, by-laws, photographs, and ephemera related to the creation and operation of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association and the Oakland Larks. The collection was assembled by Eddie Harris, co-founder of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association and business manager of the Oakland Larks, and a majority of the collection is correspondence and financial records related to the scheduling of venues and day-to-day operations of the Oakland Larks. Also included in the collection are game day programs, newspaper clippings, and photographs of baseball players on the Oakland Larks, and West Coast Negro Baseball Association by-laws, rules and regulations, and correspondence documenting the establishment of the baseball league.

Biographical / historical:

The West Coast Negro Baseball Association was formed on March 9, 1946 at a meeting of the High Marine Social Club at the Elks Clubhouse in Oakland, California. The baseball league was spearheaded by two Berkeley firemen, Eddie Harris and David P. Portlock, who pitched the idea of forming a Negro baseball league on the West Coast that would use Pacific Coast League parks while teams were away. Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, was elected president of the association with track star Jessie Owens serving as vice-president, and David Portlock as secretary. The league consisted of six teams: San Francisco Sea Lions, Seattle Steelheads, Portland Rosebuds, Oakland Larks, San Diego Tigers, and Los Angeles White Sox. The league's first official game was between the Oakland Larks and the San Diego Tigers on May 12, 1946 at Fresno Midget Auto Racing Park. The league played only one season, disbanding after the final game in July, 1946, though the Oakland Larks baseball team would continue to play as a barnstorming club through 1947.

Acquisition information:
Collection was donated by Leona M. Brown to the Northern California Center for Afro-American History and Life.
Arrangement:

Series I. West Coast Negro Baseball Association Series II. Oakland Larks Baseball Club Series III. Photographs

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.

Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish from the West Coast Negro Baseball Association Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.

Preferred citation:

West Coast Negro Baseball Association collection, MS 17, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Location of this collection:
659 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612, US
Contact:
(510) 637-0198
aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
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