Guide to the West Coast Negro Baseball Association Collection

Sean Heyliger

African American Museum & Library at Oakland

659 14th Street

Oakland, California 94612

Phone: (510) 637-0198

Fax: (510) 637-0204

Email: aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org

URL: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/locations/african-american-museum-library-oakland

Guide to the West Coast Negro Baseball Association Collection

Collection number: MS 17

African American Museum & Library at Oakland

Oakland, California

Processed by:: Sean Heyliger
Date Completed:: 02/16/2013
Encoded by:: Sean Heyliger

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.)

Oakland, CA 94612

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

West Coast Negro Baseball Association

Physical Description: 6 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Includes the league's constitution, by-laws, meeting minutes, player contracts, correspondence, and regulations.

Arrangement

Arranged by format.

Box 1:1

By-laws undated