Sports

The Grabneck baseball park.

Wilson Times, 2 May 1911.

In the spring of 1911, African-American baseball teams from Wilson and Greenville squared up at “the Grab Neck park.” Where was that?

Greensboro Daily News, 14 January 1920.

Nine years later, we find this reference to the (white) Wilson baseball club securing a park at Grabneck. Is this the same park? The article seems to suggest a new place. Or did the new grandstand signify an upgrade to an existing field?

The 1930 Sanborn map of Wilson depicts the Grabneck ball park, whose grandstand and separate bleachers (for Black patrons?) stood in the middle of West Gold Street and North Clyde Avenues, streets that had not yet been laid.

Detail of 1930 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, North Carolina.

The Newark Eagles defeat the Homestead Grays in Wilson.

Wilson Daily Times, 30 August 1939.

Two Negro League powerhouses, the Newark Eagles and the Homestead Grays, clashed in a baseball game at Wilson’s Municipal [later, Fleming] Stadium in the summer of 1939. The Grays held spring camp in Wilson and regularly scheduled a game in town before rapt fans.

Young boxers weigh in.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 February 1950.

  • John Worsley — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1210 Carolina Street, David Worsley, 43, “butler in home”; wife Daisy, 36, tobacco factory hanging room; and children John E., 17, Moses, 15, Elnora, 13, Lou Jean, 11, and Stoney, 9.
  • James Bynum
  • Bill Elliott — in the 1940 census of Edenton, Chowan County, N.C.: odd jobs yard man Weston P. Elliott, 61; wife Annie D., 59; children Sherman, 25, sawmill laborer, Raleigh, 28, Hattie, 22, cook, and Willie, 20; Quincey Beasley, 35; and grandchildren Glayds, 5, and Sarah Elliott, 5.

Darden High School’s football team.

Wilson Daily Times, 9 November 1949.

The members of the 1949 Darden gridiron squad were Eddie Best, Hunk McNeal, Herman, Hall, Bill White, Leo Dancy, Harold Darden, Charlie Floyd, John Wesley, Joe Tucker, Offie Clark, Bill Kerr, Booker T. Bridges, Fred Barnes, Jimmy Ellis, Clyde Speight, Johnny Moore, Ben Knight, and Isiah Ward. 

Everybody played both of the ball and subbed.

 

Girl Scouts hoop.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 November 1950.

——

This little two-team league charms me endlessly, not least because I know so many of the players, who are now (or would be — rest in peace) in their late 80s.

The Red Raiders’ squad were co-captains Barbara Jones and Hattie Henderson, and Marjorie Taylor, Louise Holiday, Betty Mincey, Evangeline Reid, Helen Barnes, Myrtle Lynch, Ruth Hart, Jean Wynn, and Mary Morris.

Ruby Delaney and Fay Bryant were co-captains of the White Phantoms, with Bernice Artis, Shirley Best, Charlotte Cooper, Julia King, Annie Coley, and Jean Reid rounding out the team.

Darden grid stars!

Wilson Daily Times, 20 September 1950.

  • William White — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 614 Green Street, George C. White, 41, hotel cook; wife Jane, 38, hotel laundress; and children Hampton, 3, William, 6, Margurite, 14, and Lucile, 4. In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: William H. White, 15, and brother Hampton, 13.

The Trojan (1952), yearbook of C.H. Darden High School.

  • Cornelius Moye — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Anderson McCall, 30, mortar mixer; wife Annie L., 26, cook; and sons Feral McCall, 6; Fred Moye, 8, Cornelius Moye, 7, and William A. Moye, 5.
  • Eddie Best — in the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 406 Walnut, rented for $12/month, Aaron Best, 39; wife Estelle, 39; and children Rudolph, 14, Royce, 10, Harper and Gerald, 8, Eddie, 7, and Nannie Jean, 5.
  • Albert Cannady — in the 1940 census of Sand Hill township, Moore County, North Carolina: public laborer Albert Cannady, 35; wife Sylvan, 30; and children Lunia, 12, Harold, 9, Albert Jr., Graddick, 4, and Betty Jean, 3 months. In the 1950 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Lipscomb Road, Albert M. Cannady, 45, chief cook at state hospital; wife Sylvan, 43; children Albert M., Jr., 16, grocery delivery boy, Graddick, 14, and Betty J., 10; and granddaughter Amanda Farmer, 3.

The Trojan (1952), yearbook of C.H. Darden High School.

200 Negro newspapermen expected for the A.&T. game!

Wilson Daily Times, 30 September 1939.

The Daily Times predicted hundreds of pressmen for a match-up between A.&T. and Virginia Union at Wilson’s Municipal (later Fleming) Stadium in October 1939. White fans were expected, too, and “the grandstand will be divided, the third base line half for white spectators and the first base section of the stands for colored fans.”