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PRINTER'S NO. 3201
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 481
Session of
2026
INTRODUCED BY FLICK, TIBURCIO, KHAN, HARKINS, GREINER, VENKAT,
SANCHEZ, RIVERA, MAYES AND RYNCAVAGE, APRIL 14, 2026
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, APRIL 15, 2026
A RESOLUTION
Designating May 2, 2026, as "Negro Leagues Day" in Pennsylvania
to remember the contributions African-American baseball
players made to the game of baseball.
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has significant historical ties to
Negro League baseball teams and was home to many African-
American baseball players prior to the league's formal
organization in 1920; and
WHEREAS, In 1865, one of the first Negro baseball clubs, the
Philadelphia Pythians, was formed by Octavius Catto and Jacob C.
White, and in 1867, the Philadelphia Pythians were denied
admission to the National Association of Base Ball Players
based on their race; and
WHEREAS, In 1869, the Pythians took the field at 25th and
Jefferson Streets in Philadelphia and played one of the first
interracial games against one of Philadelphia's oldest baseball
clubs, the Olympic Ball Club; and
WHEREAS, Though the Pythians closed down, the Philadelphia
Giants formed and became one of the strongest Black baseball
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teams of their time; and
WHEREAS, From 1904 through 1909, the Philadelphia Giants won
five eastern championships in six seasons, and six players from
the Philadelphia Giants are in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame (NBHF); and
WHEREAS, In 1910, in Darby, Pennsylvania, the Hilldale
Athletic Club was started as an amateur baseball club by owner
and manager, Ed Bolden; and
WHEREAS, In 1923, the Hilldale Athletic Club was a charter
member of the Eastern Colored League and won the league
championship in 1923, 1924 and 1925; and
WHEREAS, In 1924 and 1925, the Hilldale Athletic Club played
in the first two Colored World Series, losing in 1924 in
Philadelphia at the National League Park, commonly known as
Baker Bowl, before winning in 1925; and
WHEREAS, Outside of Pittsburgh, the Homestead Grays formed in
1912 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, joined the Negro National
League (NNL) in the 1930s before going on to win nine pennants
and three Negro World Series from 1937 through 1948; and
WHEREAS, The founder, Cumberland Posey and 15 men who played
for the Grays, are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Crawfords existed from 1931 to 1940
and were a charter member of the NNL, winning two league titles
in 1935 and 1936, and having eight members of the Pittsburgh
Crawfords team in the NBHF; and
WHEREAS, In the 1920s, the Harrisburg Giants had a legendary
outfield composed of Oscar Charleston, Rap Dixon and Fats
Jenkins; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Stars won the 1934 Negro National
League championship with Hall of Fame players Biz Mackey, Oscar
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Charleston and Jud Wilson; and
WHEREAS, Josh Gibson moved to Pennsylvania as a child and was
one of the most powerful baseball hitters of all time and has
the highest lifetime batting average in Major League Baseball
(MLB) history; and
WHEREAS, Official MLB totals credit him with 171 home runs in
league games while he may have hit 800 in all games; and
WHEREAS, Roy Campanella from Philadelphia started his career
in the Negro Leagues while still attending Simon Gratz High
School, in Philadelphia, and became a three-time National League
Most Valuable Player; and
WHEREAS, Roy Campanella signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers
organization in 1946 and made his Major League debut in 1948;
and
WHEREAS, Effa Manley, born in Philadelphia, was co-owner of
the Newark Eagles in New Jersey, and in 2006, Effa Manley
posthumously became the first woman inducted into the National
Baseball Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, George Stovey, a left-handed pitcher born in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1866, is widely considered the
best African-American pitcher of the 19th century; and
WHEREAS, African-American baseball teams and players from the
Negro Leagues are of historical significance to Pennsylvania's
rich athletic history; and
WHEREAS, The Negro Leagues Family Alliance proposes May 2 as
a National Negro Leagues Day as it was on May 2, 1920, that the
first Negro League game was played; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 2,
2026, as "Negro Leagues Day" in Pennsylvania to remember the
contributions African-American baseball players made to the game
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of baseball; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
significant impact of the Negro League on the civil rights
movement in sports across the nation.
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