Sol White: An Appreciation Sol White: An Appreciation Joe Marren Buffalo State College Abstract Sol White (1868-1955) did what no one else did in the 19 th century: He wrote about African American baseball. And because he did, players such as Pete Hill, Grant “Home Run” Johnson and others are not completely forgotten. Yet White was neither a historian nor a newspaper reporter. He was first and foremost a ballplayer. So his history of what was called “colored base ball” (a partial title from his book, “Sol White's Official Base Ball Guide: History of Colored Base Ball,” published in Philadelphia in 1907) is all the more remarkable because it looked at the forgotten innings that were rarely publicized since baseball drove out its black players by the end of the 19 th century. Jerry Malloy, a widely respected scholar on 19 th century African American baseball, said White’s guide is “the Dead Sea Scrolls of black professional baseball’s pioneering community.” 1 What were White’s sources? After all, the bulk of the African American press at the time consisted of mostly small community weeklies that didn’t routinely cover sports, and the white press largely ignored black teams and players 2 . Well, White’s own career as a player, coach, and manager, almost continuously from 1887 to 1909, and then briefly in 1924, put him in touch with some of the early players and teams. Based on his first-hand knowledge and contacts, White was able to write a history that is still used today for research on African Americans in late 19 th century baseball. His book has been republished twice since 1984. There is a context between Sol White and the 19 th century African American experience and the nation’s mindset on race. To do so, this paper will also briefly examine two representative examples of the century’s literature, one antebellum and one postbellum. 1 Hogan, Lawrence D. (2006). Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball . Washington, D.C.: Naonal Geographic, p. 47. 2 Carroll, Brian. (2007). When to Stop Cheering? The Black Press, the Black Community, and the Integraon of Professional Baseball. Studies in African American History and Culture. Graham Hodges, (Ed.). New York: Routledge, p. 11; and Peterson, Robert. (1970). Only the Ball Was White; A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 39. 1