A Calculus of Color: The Integration of Baseball's American League

McGregor, Robert Kuhn

ISBN 10: 0786494409 / ISBN 13: 9780786494408

Published by McFarland, 2015

About this Item

The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact, including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting, and there might be a "From the library of" label. Boxed set packaging, shrink wrap, or included media like CDs may be missing.

Seller Inventory # BSM.13ZFT

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Calculus of Color: The Integration of Baseball's American League
• Publisher: McFarland
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786494409
• ISBN 13: 9780786494408
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

In 1947, as the integration of Major League Baseball began, the once-daring American League had grown reactionary, unwilling to confront postwar challenges--population shifts, labor issues and, above all, racial integration. The league had matured in the Jim Crow era, when northern cities responded to the Great Migration by restricting black access to housing, transportation, accommodations and entertainment, while blacks created their own institutions, including baseball's Negro Leagues.

As the political climate changed and some major league teams realized the necessity of integration, the American League proved painfully reluctant. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, integration was slow and often ineffective. This book examines the integration of baseball--widely viewed as a triumph--through the experiences of the American League and finds only a limited shift in racial values. The teams accepted few black players and made no effort to alter management structures, and organized baseball remained an institution governed by tradition-bound owners.

About the Author

Robert Kuhn McGregor, professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois-Springfield, taught environmental history, early American history, and the history of popular culture, including baseball. He lives in Spencerport, New York.