The Harlem Globetrotters
By kiana king
The creator
The creator of the Harlem Globetrotters was Abe Saperstein of Chicago, IL. He took
over coaching the team of young African Americans. They were originally called the
Savory Big Five, but at the time, only whites were allowed to play pro basketball so
Abe changed the team’s name to the Harlem Globetrotters. He chose this name
because it would help promote the racial makeup of the team, since Harlem, New
York, was a very famous African American neighborhood. This was the start of an
amazing team that is still around today. Saperstein and his team soon became very
popular.
Players
There have been many many players on the Harlem Globetrotters since the team was first
founded in 1926. But perhaps the players that need more credit for the success of the
team were some of the originals.
Some of the original team consisted of
• Randolph Ramsey
Babe Pressley
• Hally Harding
Sonny Boswell
• Walter Wright
Hillary Brown
• Lester Johnson
Inman Jackson
• Charley Fisher
Ted Strong
• Joe Higgins
Bernie Price
It is hard to know every single person from the original team because many members quit
and joined during the time. The names on the right of the are the men in the picture who
at the time were 1940 world champions.
About the team
The Globetrotters were originally founded in 1926 in the Savory
Ballroom in Chicago IL. The original players all grew up in the
South side of Chicago and most of them attended the same high
school(Wendell Phillips High School). The original purpose of the
team was to play exhibition games before dances and the team
started out playing basketball seriously and very competitively.
They figured out that the white people would not pay to see
them beat their teams because this was a time when
discrimination was still happening. They started goofing off
during games and then the white people paid to see them
clowning around.
More information
At the time when the Harlem Globetrotters were
founded, Harlem, New York was a city exploding with
rich African American culture so of course that was the
perfect city to name the team after. Even though the
team was now known as Harlem, they did not actually
play a game there until 1968. By then they were
becoming more and more popular. In the beginning,
they would only show off and clown around after they
had a really big lead in a game but as time went on
their showing off was what brought the crowds and the
money in so they soon became full time tricksters.
Pros of the team
• The team made it possible for African American males to show off their
skills in the game of basketball.
• Many of the dunks and shots in the NBA evolved from the Harlem
Globetrotters.
• The team still exists today and they travel all over the place.
• The team opened up doors for skilled African Americans and soon led to
African Americans being able to play in the NBA.
• They are extremely talented people and they tour the world entertaining
others.
Cons of the team
• The team originally was very competitive and serious but they had to
change the way they played because they were discriminated against by
the whites and the whites would not pay to watch them play for real.
• They had to stick with the team because the NBA was not integrated yet
and did not allow their race to play.
• In the beginning the Globetrotters had to play other black teams so they
wouldn’t beat the white teams.
• Many of the early players never got the chance to go pro.
Knowledge comparison
Question: I asked, “What do you know about the Harlem Globetrotters?”
Answers:
My Mom- “I watched some of the Globetrotter’s games and I know that they were
very well known because of the antics that they did in the game of basketball. They
looked like they were always having fun together and people went to see them
because they did things that you just couldn’t see in normal basketball games. They
made a big impact on the history of basketball.
My Sister and “I know they were a basketball team”
My friend Allyah- “ Who are they?”
This proves that many kids my age or around my age don’t really no anything about
the Harlem Globetrotters. This is why we need to be educated about the Globetrotters
and their affect on history.
The Globetrotters in action
• Harlem Globetrotters
This link is a video about 10 minutes long, and it
shows the Globetrotters doing what they did
best.
If you want to see more videos of them you can
try searching Harlem Globetrotters on
youtube.com
Cites
• http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/harlem-globetrotters1926
• http://157.166.255.30/index.php?title=Harlem_Globetrott
ers
• http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/harlemglobetrotters-play-their-first-game
• www.wikipedia.com