Although racial discrimination and barriers to entry existed among Steel City sports teams for far too long, the city has celebrated important moments and milestones in the integration of American sport. Pittsburgh was home to two of the greatest teams in Negro League history, fielding future Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige. Local basketball stars Chuck Cooper, Bill Nunn Jr., Dick Ricketts, Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman held integrated pick-up games at Mellon Park in Shadyside in the 1950s. Connellsville native Jimmy Joe Robinson became the first African American player on the University of Pittsburgh’s football team in 1945 as the school integrated ahead of federal desegregation. The Association of Gentleman Pittsburgh Journalists presents the compelling, heartbreaking and courageous history of how Pittsburgh’s integration of sport helped lead the nation.
The Association of Gentleman Pittsburgh Journalists represent some of the most preeminent authors and sports historians of Western Pennsylvania, including David Finoli, Tom Rooney, Chris Fletcher, Robert Healy III, Josh Taylor, Gary Kinn, Richard Boyer and Douglas Cavanaugh. Samuel W. Black is the director of the African American Program at the Senator John Heinz History Center. He is a former president of the Association of African American Museums (2011–16) and served on the Executive Council and the Advisory Council of the Association for the Study of African American Life & History (ASALH 2003–6), as well as the program committee of the American Alliance of Museums (2010–11).