Objectives:
1. Student will learn about the social problems (including segregation) that blacks
endured in the U.S. by learning about the struggles of Jackie Robinson and other
blacks who played Negro League Baseball.
2. Students will learn how the event of breaking the baseball color barrier by Jackie
Robinson helped lay a foundation for social improvements for blacks during the Civil
Rights Movement.
3. Students will learn about social forces including the terrorism and threats that black
people including baseball players like Jackie Robinson had to endure in order to bring
about changes and integrate both baseball and the American culture.
4. Students will learn how of Jackie Robinson tried to influence politics and they will
experience the inspiration that he provided to African Americans and all other
minority groups as well as to all Americans.
Background:
1. Have students define terms such as prejudice, discrimination, and segregation. Discuss
how all of these terms applied to the Negro Leagues and the barriers faced by men like
Jackie Robinson.
2. Compare the limited opportunities blacks had in baseball to other occupations and
laws of that time.
Description:
Students will do the document based question on segregation in baseball. They will answer all
of the document questions, then use those ideas to construct an essay.
Materials:
The students will use the documents provided for them in the document based question.
Discussion Questions:
All of the questions in the Document Based Question can and should be used as discussion
questions. This will get the students to analyze the documents and think critically about
them.
Assessment:
These Document Based Questions (DBQs) could be used as a test. They should definitely be
discussed and gone over in detail, but could be evaluated as test score as well.
Extensions:
1. This lesson can be done as one DBQ or divided up into seven small constructed
response questions. Each question would then be a short individual activity where the
students would answer the document questions. Then, the questions could be part of a
class discussion about that particular document. This could be done for any and/or all
of the seven individual documents.
2. This assignment could lead to students doing research projects on Negro League
Baseball players or a comparison research paper with other civil rights leaders who
helped to bring about change.
Document - Based Questions
This assignment is based on the accompanying documents (1-7). Some of the documents have
been edited for the purpose of the question. The assignment is designed to test your ability to
work with historical documents. As you analyze the documents, take into account both the
context of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.
Historical Context: Major league baseball was segregated until 1947. African Americans were
prohibited from playing in major league baseball. African Americans were only allowed to
play in separate Negro Leagues. That all changed in April of 1947 when Jackie Robinson
broke baseball’s color barrier and became the first African American to play in major league
baseball. In addition to his successful baseball career, Robinson used his status to become a
leader in the Civil Rights Movement.
Tasks:
1. Describe what life for blacks in baseball was like before Jackie Robinson broke the
color barrier.
2. Describe some of the racism and prejudice that the African American players
encountered in baseball before they joined the Major League system and after they
joined Major League baseball.
3. Explain how Jackie Robinson used his baseball fame to try to influence the Civil
Rights Movement.
Part A: Short Answer
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the questions that follow each document in
the space provided. Your answers to the questions in Part A will help you write the essay in
Part B.
Document 1
“The NABBP (National Association of Base Ball Players) soon went out of existence and was
replaced in 1871 by the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players or the National
Association as it was known. The National Association did not have a written rule barring
African Americans, but there was an attitude of “gentleman’s agreement” to keep professional
baseball segregated…In 1876, the National Association was replaced by the National League,
the first major league…In 1882, another major league, the American Association, began…
Several African Americans played in the minor leagues at this time…Of these men, only Moses
Fleetwood Walker and his brother, Weldy, reached the major leagues. Catcher Moses or Fleet
as he was known, appeared in 46 games with Toledo of the American Association in 1884. This
made him the first African American to play major league baseball. His outfielder brother had
considerable less game action appearing in only five games for the same team in 1884. Soon
after the color barrier was reestablished until broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947.”
Patricia Gracey, Education Department, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY
1. Did the NABPB have a written agreement segregating baseball? _________ Provide a quote
to support your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Who was the first African American to play Major League Baseball.
____________________________________________________.
3. Why was there such a long time between the first African American player and the arrival
of Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Document 2
The Pittsburgh Crawfords - 1935
1. What can you tell about the baseball team pictured above? Who are they? Where do they
come from? What is special about them?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2.
What method of transportation was used by the team?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Document 3
Advertisement Poster of Harrisburg Colored Giants 1920’s
1. What evidence does this 1920’s poster contain that shows Negro League Baseball was well
organized and technologically advanced for its time?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What words or phrases contained in this poster could black ballplayers find insulting?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Why would those words or phrases from question # 2 be degrading or offensive to black
players?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Document 4
Colored Entrance – 1920’s
1.
Who was this door to be used by? _____________________________________________
2.
Why did this separate entrance exist? __________________________________________
3.
What societal situation does this illustrate? _____________________________________
Document 5
What is the story behind the decline of Negro baseball?
The answer is composed of several parts. Obviously, integration in Organized Ball, which was
begun on October 23, 1945, when Branch Rickey signed Robinson for the Brooklyn organization,
is a primary contribution factor… Behind the mentioned factors leading to the decline of Negro
baseball, you can add: A general improvement in the economic status of American Negroes,
television, the attraction of other sports and recreational facilities, including integration of
Southern golf courses, steady migration of fans to the North, Midwest and West, increased home
ownership and the attendant responsibilities.
It all adds up to this: After 72 years, Negro baseball is just about finished. In the minds of most
Negro fans, Negro baseball is a victim of progress. And far from being sorry, as much as Negro
club owners might hate to hear it said, they are glad.
From article entitled, “Negro Ball Fights Bravely for Life Against Big Odds,” published in The Sporting News, August 7, 1957
1.
List five factors that contributed to the decline of the Negro Leagues.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Document 6
Threatening Letters to Jackie Robinson - 1947
1. What did the writer threaten to do to Jackie Robinson if he entered a game at Crosley
Field (Cincinnati, OH)?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Based on the information in the documents, why would these threats have been taken so
seriously?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What does the letter tell you about the social climate of the times?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Document 7
“I was sitting in the audience at the Summit Meeting of Negro Leaders yesterday when you
said we must have patience. On hearing you say this, I felt like standing up and saying, ‘Oh no!
Not again.’ I respectfully remind you sir, that we have been the most patient of all people. When
you said we must have self-respect, I wondered how we could have self-respected and remain
patient considering the treatment accorded us through the years. 17 million Negroes cannot do
as you suggest and wait for the hearts of men to change. We want to enjoy the rights that we feel
we are entitled to as Americans. This we cannot do unless we pursue aggressively goals which
all other Americans achieved 150 years ago.”
Excerpted from a letter from Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, dated May 13, 1958.
1.
Why did Jackie Robinson feel like standing and saying “Oh no! Not again.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2.
How does he feel African Americans should act in order to achieve what all Americans
have achieved?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Part B
Task: Write an essay on the topic below using the documents as evidence. Your essay should
include three parts: (1) an introduction that states your main point, (2) a body that develops
your main point and offers evidence from the documents and your knowledge of history, and
(3) a conclusion that restates your main point. Include specific historical details and use
information from the documents that you analyzed in Part A. Write your essay on a separate
sheet of paper.
- Describe what life in baseball was like before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
- Describe some of Robinson's encounters with racism and prejudice.
- Explain how Jackie Robinson used his baseball fame to try to contribute to The Civil
Rights Movement.