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When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime
The story of Jackie Robinson valiantly breaking baseball’s color barrier in 1947 is one most Americans know. But less recognized is the fact that some seventy years earlier, following the Civil War, baseball was tenuously biracial and had the potential for a truly open game. How, then, did the game become so firmly segregated that it required a trailblazer like Robinson? The answer, Ryan A. Swanson suggests, has everything to do with the politics of “reconciliation” and a wish to avoid the issues of race that an integrated game necessarily raised.
The history of baseball during Reconstruction, as Swanson tells it, is a story of lost opportunities. Thomas Fitzgerald and Octavius Catto (a Philadelphia baseball tandem), for example, were poised to emerge as pioneers of integration in the 1860s. Instead, the desire to create a “national game”—professional and appealing to white northerners and southerners alike—trumped any movement toward civil rights. Focusing on Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Richmond—three cities with large African American populations and thriving baseball clubs—Swanson uncovers the origins of baseball’s segregation and the mechanics of its implementation.
An important piece of sports history, his work also offers a better understanding of Reconstruction, race, and segregation in America.
The history of baseball during Reconstruction, as Swanson tells it, is a story of lost opportunities. Thomas Fitzgerald and Octavius Catto (a Philadelphia baseball tandem), for example, were poised to emerge as pioneers of integration in the 1860s. Instead, the desire to create a “national game”—professional and appealing to white northerners and southerners alike—trumped any movement toward civil rights. Focusing on Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Richmond—three cities with large African American populations and thriving baseball clubs—Swanson uncovers the origins of baseball’s segregation and the mechanics of its implementation.
An important piece of sports history, his work also offers a better understanding of Reconstruction, race, and segregation in America.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 31, 2019
On a cold, blustery day I am adorned in my Wrigley Field sweatshirt and Patriots fuzzy socks, repping my two favorite teams on this last day of 2019. It has been quite the reading year, and one of my themes has been to pay homage to Jackie Robinson on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Much has been written of Robinson and his unique role in making baseball into a truly American game. His place in American history is undisputed. Nineteenth century sports history Ryan Swanson argues race played a key role in the formation of professional baseball directly after the civil war. Had baseball’s pioneers addressed race in a positive manner during the 1860s-70s, Jackie Robinson might have been just another baseball player or even football star. In his doctoral thesis, Swanson addresses how a still healing nation assured that her national sporting pastime would be a white game.
Following the civil war, Americans adapted to a new reality that included freed slaves as well as newly arrived immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and other Western European nations. The United States had entered a period of Reconstruction and the dawn of her gilded age. Sectionalism played a strong role in day to day living in 1860s America. The south still grieved and reeled from her defeat and was picking up the pieces following an onslaught across her land. Americans needed a recreational outlet to escape the realities of day to day life, and this outlet was a game called baseball. Baseball had first been played in various northern hamlets before the civil war and still resembled the game of cricket. Scores ran over one hundred runs a contest in some cases as the game contained few rules that are used today. Northern cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and the Capital City of Washington were home to as many as twenty white baseball teams. All players were amateurs, with professionalism on the horizon after the defeat of reconstruction. Freed blacks organized their own teams that were equal to their white contemporaries yet were met with prejudice in terms of finding a place to play as well as quality opponents. Separate but equal facilities emerged as a reality.
The north made overtures toward the south in an attempt to include southern cities in the now fledgling sport. Cities such as Richmond, Atlanta, Birmingham, and New Orleans were home to a myriad of ball clubs that paid homage to fallen confederate soldiers and battles. Teams had names such as the Robert E Lees, Stonewalls, Tyrannos, which evoked the statement that John Wilkes Booth uttered as he fled after assassinating President Lincoln. These southern cities actually staged professional games before the north in an attempt to raise money for southern cemeteries, widows, and orphans. Blacks, free in name only, had their own teams, but according to newspapers, were deemed inferior to whites even if the quality of black teams far exceeded their white counterparts. In extending membership in the National Association of Amateur Baseball Players to the south, the north all but assured that America’s pastime would become a white game. Ironically, once baseball became more of the professional game that it is today, southern teams did not gain membership in the fledgling leagues. Sectionalism mattered more to baseball’s early leaders than full participation in newly formed leagues and associations with America still emerging anew from the embers of war.
Swanson argues that Philadelphia’s Octavio Catto could have been Jackie Robinson eighty years earlier, and Philadelphia Athletics President Thomas Fitzgerald could have been Branch Rickey. An educated black, Catto worked at the Banneker Institute’s Negro Youth Society and was a respected member of society. He was also the president of Philadelphia’s negro Pythian baseball club and played second base for the team for many years. Catto’s life came to an early end when he was murdered for being black after arriving to and being denied the vote in November 1871. Following Catto’s death, Philadelphia’s black baseball community declined for many years. Likewise, Thomas Fitzgerald was seen as progressive on race and would have voted black teams membership in the amateur baseball players associations. When other baseball leaders saw that Fitzgerald supported the mingling of races, he was ousted as Athletic team president. Once baseball went professional with the establishment of the National League in 1876 and the American League in 1884, it was a foregone conclusion that only white teams could participate.
Baseball during reconstruction paved the way for the formation of the Negro Leagues between the 1920s and 1950s. These segregated leagues were home to some of the best baseball players in history who were denied participation in the major leagues due to their race. With the race question all but answered in the late 1860s, it would not be for another eighty years until Jackie Robinson integrated the major leagues when he suited up for the Dodgers in 1947. In baseball historian and also Theodore Roosevelt enthusiast, I have found a kindred spirit in Ryan Swanson. I have enjoyed both of his books that I read this year, and look forward to reading his future work. When Baseball Went White concludes my 2019 of honoring Jackie Robinson and exploring civil rights. It has been a fascinating journey, helped along by authors like Ryan Swanson who made reading about difficult subjects fun.
4 stars
Following the civil war, Americans adapted to a new reality that included freed slaves as well as newly arrived immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and other Western European nations. The United States had entered a period of Reconstruction and the dawn of her gilded age. Sectionalism played a strong role in day to day living in 1860s America. The south still grieved and reeled from her defeat and was picking up the pieces following an onslaught across her land. Americans needed a recreational outlet to escape the realities of day to day life, and this outlet was a game called baseball. Baseball had first been played in various northern hamlets before the civil war and still resembled the game of cricket. Scores ran over one hundred runs a contest in some cases as the game contained few rules that are used today. Northern cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and the Capital City of Washington were home to as many as twenty white baseball teams. All players were amateurs, with professionalism on the horizon after the defeat of reconstruction. Freed blacks organized their own teams that were equal to their white contemporaries yet were met with prejudice in terms of finding a place to play as well as quality opponents. Separate but equal facilities emerged as a reality.
The north made overtures toward the south in an attempt to include southern cities in the now fledgling sport. Cities such as Richmond, Atlanta, Birmingham, and New Orleans were home to a myriad of ball clubs that paid homage to fallen confederate soldiers and battles. Teams had names such as the Robert E Lees, Stonewalls, Tyrannos, which evoked the statement that John Wilkes Booth uttered as he fled after assassinating President Lincoln. These southern cities actually staged professional games before the north in an attempt to raise money for southern cemeteries, widows, and orphans. Blacks, free in name only, had their own teams, but according to newspapers, were deemed inferior to whites even if the quality of black teams far exceeded their white counterparts. In extending membership in the National Association of Amateur Baseball Players to the south, the north all but assured that America’s pastime would become a white game. Ironically, once baseball became more of the professional game that it is today, southern teams did not gain membership in the fledgling leagues. Sectionalism mattered more to baseball’s early leaders than full participation in newly formed leagues and associations with America still emerging anew from the embers of war.
Swanson argues that Philadelphia’s Octavio Catto could have been Jackie Robinson eighty years earlier, and Philadelphia Athletics President Thomas Fitzgerald could have been Branch Rickey. An educated black, Catto worked at the Banneker Institute’s Negro Youth Society and was a respected member of society. He was also the president of Philadelphia’s negro Pythian baseball club and played second base for the team for many years. Catto’s life came to an early end when he was murdered for being black after arriving to and being denied the vote in November 1871. Following Catto’s death, Philadelphia’s black baseball community declined for many years. Likewise, Thomas Fitzgerald was seen as progressive on race and would have voted black teams membership in the amateur baseball players associations. When other baseball leaders saw that Fitzgerald supported the mingling of races, he was ousted as Athletic team president. Once baseball went professional with the establishment of the National League in 1876 and the American League in 1884, it was a foregone conclusion that only white teams could participate.
Baseball during reconstruction paved the way for the formation of the Negro Leagues between the 1920s and 1950s. These segregated leagues were home to some of the best baseball players in history who were denied participation in the major leagues due to their race. With the race question all but answered in the late 1860s, it would not be for another eighty years until Jackie Robinson integrated the major leagues when he suited up for the Dodgers in 1947. In baseball historian and also Theodore Roosevelt enthusiast, I have found a kindred spirit in Ryan Swanson. I have enjoyed both of his books that I read this year, and look forward to reading his future work. When Baseball Went White concludes my 2019 of honoring Jackie Robinson and exploring civil rights. It has been a fascinating journey, helped along by authors like Ryan Swanson who made reading about difficult subjects fun.
4 stars
July 30, 2025
When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime is a solid, meticulously researched history of the how and why baseball originally became rigidly segregated in the aftermath of the Civil War. Focusing primarily on three cities (Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Richmond) it examines in detail how the politics and culture of postbellum America led directly to the unwritten but strictly enforced segregation rule that lasted until Jackie Robinson heroically broke the color barrier in 1947. It turns a highly focused lens on the North’s abandonment of Reconstruction, and shows how the obsession with Reconciliation became a cover for ignoring the rights and wellbeing of the newly freed Blacks, and the excuse for abandoning justice.
Unfortunately, this book is written in a desert-dry academic style. It is incredibly dense with information, and its author made few if any attempts to mitigate that with anything that approaches entertaining or skillful writing. I slogged through it to the end because its information was valuable, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it.
Unfortunately, this book is written in a desert-dry academic style. It is incredibly dense with information, and its author made few if any attempts to mitigate that with anything that approaches entertaining or skillful writing. I slogged through it to the end because its information was valuable, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it.
September 1, 2016
When Jackie Robinson broke the professional baseball color barrier in 1947, it was acknowledged to be an important event in the progress of civil rights for black citizens. However, it was not the first time that the sport of baseball attempted to be integrated. The early attempts at the games integration are explored in this extensively researched book by Ryan A. Swanson.
The book is more of a study in the politics and racial atmosphere in the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War through the baseball clubs in three cities: Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Richmond. While clubs (what teams were called throughout the book as was the case during this time in the history of theol game) consisted of all white or all black players, there were games played between clubs of the different races in the first two cities. While this wasn’t the case in Richmond, there was also a movement to achieve integration of the game as well, which ultimately failed.
Written in an academic style, the reading can be slightly tedious but the topic is fascinating as the reader will learn not only about the hierarchy in baseball during the 1860’s and 1870’s, he or she will also understand how the color line was drawn and it was a reflection of race relations at the time. While the northern baseball clubs were more willing to integrate, when the associations of clubs gathered for state or national meetings, there was hesitancy to pass resolutions to integrate the game in order to restore national unity after the war.
The line grew more pronounced as professional baseball grew as an industry in the 1870’s and eventually it became a hard line until Robinson broke it. This led to the only disappointment I had in this book – I was hoping to learn more about other black players who played in this time, such as Moses Fleetwood Walker, who was the first black professional player in the American Association. That league was trying to compete with the National League and was not on the same footing, so Walker’s story may be forgotten when studying the integration of the game.
While this topic may not have been discussed in depth, the inner workings of baseball clubs and organizations is well discussed in the book and is a worthy addition to the library of any baseball fan or historian who wishes to learn more about this era of the game.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
The book is more of a study in the politics and racial atmosphere in the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War through the baseball clubs in three cities: Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Richmond. While clubs (what teams were called throughout the book as was the case during this time in the history of theol game) consisted of all white or all black players, there were games played between clubs of the different races in the first two cities. While this wasn’t the case in Richmond, there was also a movement to achieve integration of the game as well, which ultimately failed.
Written in an academic style, the reading can be slightly tedious but the topic is fascinating as the reader will learn not only about the hierarchy in baseball during the 1860’s and 1870’s, he or she will also understand how the color line was drawn and it was a reflection of race relations at the time. While the northern baseball clubs were more willing to integrate, when the associations of clubs gathered for state or national meetings, there was hesitancy to pass resolutions to integrate the game in order to restore national unity after the war.
The line grew more pronounced as professional baseball grew as an industry in the 1870’s and eventually it became a hard line until Robinson broke it. This led to the only disappointment I had in this book – I was hoping to learn more about other black players who played in this time, such as Moses Fleetwood Walker, who was the first black professional player in the American Association. That league was trying to compete with the National League and was not on the same footing, so Walker’s story may be forgotten when studying the integration of the game.
While this topic may not have been discussed in depth, the inner workings of baseball clubs and organizations is well discussed in the book and is a worthy addition to the library of any baseball fan or historian who wishes to learn more about this era of the game.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
December 23, 2014
Great book for any fan of baseball. Book analyzes life for African-Americans who were not allowed to play white clubs. Examines the 70 or so years prior to Jackie Robinson becoming the 1st black player in the league in 1947.
April 28, 2021
A study on the history & mechanics of segregation in American baseball’s National league. From the 1860s to Jack Roosevelt Robinson’s entry into the major leagues (1947) covenants to restrict Black players from baseball, after the Civil War, reigned supreme. One outstanding individual jumped off the pages, of the book-Octavius V. Catto; a quiet, inoffensive gentleman of base ball, who devoted himself to the amelioration and elevation of the Black base ball player’s condition. Mr. Catto, who was assassinated trying to vote, was an organizer and player of the Philadelphia Pythians Base Ball Club and a giant in the community at large. Great historical data.
July 11, 2019
A very detailed and well researched book about how African Americans became excluded from playing with and against white teams. One small nit was when the author said the Homestead Grays were in Washington D.C. he didn't mention that they also played in Pittsburgh too which is where they were more well known by.
March 7, 2016
This is a great read about a topic that should get more notoriety. This was very interesting and gave a great perspective on how closely connected baseball was to the concepts of segregation, reconstruction, and societal influence. For baseball fans, this book should be a must read.
My only issues involve a couple of points that I feel he stretches to connect to racism in baseball (on the surface, they could just as easily be about professionalism). He also questions the sourcing and interpretation of authors such as Robert Peterson whose work was pioneering and bound to include some problems. Otherwise, this work is very well-resesrched and contains a lot of sourcing. I just didn't think calling out other authors for their research that was conducted years earlier was necessary.
My only issues involve a couple of points that I feel he stretches to connect to racism in baseball (on the surface, they could just as easily be about professionalism). He also questions the sourcing and interpretation of authors such as Robert Peterson whose work was pioneering and bound to include some problems. Otherwise, this work is very well-resesrched and contains a lot of sourcing. I just didn't think calling out other authors for their research that was conducted years earlier was necessary.
November 23, 2015
An amazingly- perhaps too much so- researched account of the early days of baseball, up to the creation of the NL in 1876.
It can stand well as a PhD dissertation, but its dryness detracts from the story.
It can stand well as a PhD dissertation, but its dryness detracts from the story.
August 31, 2014
Somewhat dry and academic, but still interesting update for how baseball was entrenched as a white institution.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews