Description
Book SynopsisIn the decade after the Civil War, baseball became segregated because its leaders wanted to grow its presence and appeal to Southerners and to professionalize the sport. As a result, Black players were excluded until 1947.
Trade Review"A boon to scholars of both the early development of baseball and race relations after the Civil War."—
Library Journal"
When Baseball Went White is an intriguing, insightful, and provocative book that opens exciting possibilities for future researchers."—David Welky,
Journal of Sport History"Lively and engaging."—Dain Tepoel,
Sport in American History“Ryan Swanson's carefully researched and wonderfully nuanced study of baseball’s declining race relations during Reconstruction sheds considerable light on this oft-neglected topic. A must-read.”—Peter Morris, author of A Game of Inches and Level Playing Fields
“Deeply researched and well written, Ryan A. Swanson’s
When Baseball Went White carefully examines ‘the mechanics of segregation’ that racially cleansed organized baseball during Reconstruction and in the process helped the game become our ‘national pastime,’ at the expense of civil rights and racial justice. Swanson reveals, in fine detail, how a sport that would become a truly meaningful cultural practice and institution nevertheless became something less than it might have been.”—Daniel A. Nathan, president of the North American Society for Sport History and author of Saying It’s So: A Cultural History of the Black Sox Scandal
Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsIntroductionProminent Players and ClubsPart 1. The War’s Over, 1865–671. Washington DC: A Game to Be Governed2. Richmond: Make It a Southern Game3. Philadelphia: Baseball’s BoomtownPart 2. Sorting Out New Divisions, 1867–694. Philadelphia: Setting Precedent5. Washington DC: Nationalizing Separation6. Richmond: Calibrating a ResponsePart 3. New Realities Entrenched, the 1870s7. Philadelphia: Permanent Solutions8. Richmond: The Final Tally9. Washington DC: Professional SeparationEpilogueAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex
