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An Illegal Act of Basketball
3/31/2015 9:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. -- One Sunday morning in 1944, an all-white team from Duke and an all-black team from the North Carolina Central College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) met in secret and broke the law. Their illegal act? Playing basketball against each other.
Duke alumnus Scott Ellworth, who describes the moment in his new book “The Secret Game,” will discuss the new volume and sign copies at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in the Edge in Bostock Library.
Ellsworth, who earned his Ph.D. in history at Duke, happened upon the story while researching college basketball in the 1950s. He was struck by the character of John McLendon, the legendary coach of the Central team, and by the courage of players on both sides.
The black and white teams flouted Jim Crow laws to compete against each other, long before the Civil Rights victories of the 1960s. The match-up was the first integrated college basketball game in the South and a precursor of Civil Rights milestones to come, Ellsworth said.
“During World War II there is a forgotten generation of people in the South – mainly young people, white and black – who are starting to fight back against Jim Crow and segregation in inventive ways,” Ellsworth said. “ The Duke students and the N.C. College students are part of that generation. They were risking their careers by taking part in the game.”
Read the full story at today.duke.edu.
Duke alumnus Scott Ellworth, who describes the moment in his new book “The Secret Game,” will discuss the new volume and sign copies at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in the Edge in Bostock Library.
Ellsworth, who earned his Ph.D. in history at Duke, happened upon the story while researching college basketball in the 1950s. He was struck by the character of John McLendon, the legendary coach of the Central team, and by the courage of players on both sides.
The black and white teams flouted Jim Crow laws to compete against each other, long before the Civil Rights victories of the 1960s. The match-up was the first integrated college basketball game in the South and a precursor of Civil Rights milestones to come, Ellsworth said.
“During World War II there is a forgotten generation of people in the South – mainly young people, white and black – who are starting to fight back against Jim Crow and segregation in inventive ways,” Ellsworth said. “ The Duke students and the N.C. College students are part of that generation. They were risking their careers by taking part in the game.”
Read the full story at today.duke.edu.
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