[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONOR THE BIRMINGHAM BLACK BARONS AND THE NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES

  (Mr. HILLIARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, during segregation, blacks were excluded 
from organized baseball. To play baseball, black players and supporters 
organized the Negro Leagues. These leagues not only gave black players 
an opportunity to play, but they were an important part of the social 
life of the community.
  The Birmingham Black Barons was one of the founding teams in the 
Negro Southern League. They often drew larger crowds than white teams 
which played in the same park. Their games often featured such 
promotions as dance contests, beauty pageants, and visiting celebrities 
like Lena Horne and Lionel Hampton. The Black Barons produced players 
such as Willie Mays and Satchel Paige, who later had prominent careers 
in organized baseball, when the barriers against black players were 
lowered.
  The Birmingham Public Library is honoring players from the Birmingham 
Black Barons and other Negro League teams on Thursday night. At this 
time I would like to honor the following players: Mr. Pat Patterson, 
Mr. Willie Young, Mr. Eugene Williams, Mr. Norman Lumpkin, Mr. Verdell 
``Lefty'' Mathis, Mr. Joe Scott, Mr. Sherwood ``Chet'' Brewer, Mr. 
Sammy Haynes, Mr. Frank King, Mr. James Zapp, Mr. James ``Fireball'' 
Bolden, Mr. Tommy Sampson, Mr. Cecil Witt, Mr. Ralph Johnson, Mr. 
Arthur Hamilton, Mr. John Kennedy, Mr. Anthony Lloyd, Mr. Johnnie 
Cowan, Mr. Bob Hayden, Mr. Carl Holden, Mr. James Norman, Mr. William 
Davis, Mr. Harold Hair, Mr. Willie Sims, Mr. Ralph Johnson, Mr. Louis 
Gillis, Mr. Carl Holden, Mr. Nathaniel Pollard, Mr. Joe B. Scott, Mr. 
Otha Bailey, Mr. Lyman Bostock, Mr. William ``Cap'' Brown, Mr. Lorenzo 
(Piper) Davis, Mr. Frank Evans, Rev. William Greason, Mr. Wiley Griggs, 
Mr. Raymond Haggins, Mr. Sam Hairston, Mr. Willie Harris, Mr. James 
``Sap'' Evory, Mr. Willie Lee, Mr. Jesse Mitchell, Mr. John Mitchell, 
Mr. Wiliam Powell, Mr. Eugene Scruggs, Mr. Freddie Shepard, Mr. Willie 
Young, and Mr. Harry ``Mooch'' Barnes.
  We are honoring only a few of the pioneers, but the others are not 
forgotten. Their contributions added immensely to the joys, pleasures 
and ``good times'' of a disenfranchised people at a difficult time in 
their lives. The work of each one of them shall be etched in the 
history of a people struggling to be free. This insertion into the 
Congressional Record ensures them that a record of their part in making 
America free, shall be preserved as long as this country exists.
  May we play the game of life as honorably as they played the game of 
baseball.


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