Boston's Black Athletes

Sport has long been a stage where identity is contested, visibility is earned, and social change takes root.
In Boston, the Black athletic body has historically challenged the city's self image as a beacon of liberalism. Boston's Black Athletes: Identity, Performance, and Activism interprets this contested history through the lives and experiences of African American athletes who used their talent as a vehicle for social justice. Editors Robert Cvornyek and Douglas Stark, along with the volume's contributors, spotlight figures such as Kittie Knox, Louise Stokes, and Medina Dixon-athletes who confronted and navigated Boston's racial boundaries across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their biographical portraits draw from stories rooted in Boston's Black neighborhoods, illuminating the struggles, triumphs, and enduring cultural significance of these community shaping figures. In recounting how these athletes influenced racial identity and cultural expression, the book demonstrates how their legacies continue to challenge perceptions of Boston and reveal sport's power to expose inequity and inspire transformation.

Robert Cvornyek is professor emeritus of history at Rhode Island College.
Douglas Stark is sports museum consultant in Barrington, Rhode Island.

Foreword: Representation Matters by Chante Bonds
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Frenchy A. Johnson: The Life and Times of America's First Black Sports Star by Edward H. Jones
Chapter 2: Black Brahmin Birdies: Golf and the Life of George Franklin Grant (1946-1910) by Lane Demas
Chapter 3: Kittie Knox, Boston Cyclist in the 1890s: The War Between Exclusion and Inclusion by Lorenz J. Finison
Chapter 4: "Under Wraps": The Life and Legacy of Sam Langford by Andrew Smith
Chapter 5: Major Marshall Taylor: The Worcester Whirlwind by Lorenz J. Finison and Lynne Tolman
Chapter 6: Louisa Mae Stokes Fraser: Overlooked Legend by Leslie Heaphy
Chapter 7: Lou Montgomery: Tackling Jim Crow by Susan A. Michalczyk
Chapter 8: Constructing Legends: Pumpsie Green, Race, and the Boston Red Sox by Robert E. Weir
Chapter 9: A Seasoned Rookie: Veteran Sam Jethroe Joins the Boston Braves by Stephanie Liscio
Chapter 10: Staying East of the Mississippi: Reengaging with Rodeo's Diverse History and the New England Connection by Tracey Owens Patton
Chapter 11: Boom Boom Barbosa to Jair: Boston's Minor-League, Major-League Soccer and Black Identity by Steven Apostolov
Chapter 12: Fighting for Recognition: The Almost Legendary Career of Medina Dixon by Donna L. Halper
Afterword: (Re)centering Boston Sport History: A Biographical Glimpse of Seven African-American Female Athletes Who Are Shaping Boston Sport by Eileen Narcotta-Welp
Index
About the Editors and Contributors