Descriptive Summary
Access
Access Restrictions
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography / Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Other Finding Aids
Descriptive Summary
Title: West Coast Negro Baseball Association collection
Dates: 1945-1949
Collection number: MS 17
Creator:
Harris, Eddie
Collection Size:
.75 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
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.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
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.
Acquisition Information
Collection was donated by Leona M. Brown to the Northern California Center for Afro-American History and Life.
Biography / Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
Arrangement
Series I. West Coast Negro Baseball Association
Series II. Oakland Larks Baseball Club
Series III. Photographs
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
West Coast Negro Baseball Association--History.
Oakland Larks (Baseball team)--History.
Baseball--California--History.
Negro leagues--History.
Other Finding Aids
Richard T. Dobbins Collection, Oakland Museum of California
Charlotte Harris Papers, MS 16, African American Museum & Library at Oakland