The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball's Forgotten Era

by Claude Johnson

Overview

The Black Fives is a groundbreaking, timely history of the largely unknown early days of Black basketball, bringing to life the trailblazing players, teams, and impresarios who pioneered the sport.

“For a game that has meant so much to the world, Claude Johnson somehow presents a definitive account for a part of basketball’s history that for so long was kept away from us. Claude is a superhero storyteller, and this book is a bona fide superpower.” —Justin Tinsley, author of It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him

From the introduction of the game of basketball to Black communities on a wide scale in 1904 to the racial integration of the NBA in 1950, dozens of African American teams were founded and flourished. This period, known as the Black Fives Era (teams at the time were often called “fives”), was a time of pioneering players and managers. They battled discrimination and marginalization and created culturally rich, socially meaningful events. But despite headline-making rivalries between big-city clubs, barnstorming tours across the country, innovative business models, and undeniably talented players, this period is almost entirely unknown to basketball fans.

Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. An advocate fiercely committed to our history, for more than two decades Johnson has conducted interviews, mined archives, collected artifacts, and helped to preserve this historically important African American experience that otherwise would have been lost. This essential book is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that braids together the stories of these forgotten pioneers and rewrites our understanding of the story of basketball.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419749780
Publisher:	Abrams Press
Publication date:	01/23/2024
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	513,596
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Claude Johnson is a historian and founder of the Black Fives Foundation. He has a BS in civil engineering and economics from Carnegie Mellon and an MS in mechanical engineering from Stanford. During a 20-year career in corporate America, Johnson held management and executive positions at IBM, American Express, NBA Properties, Nike, Phat Farm, and Benetton Sportsystem. He left to become a stay-at-home dad to his three student-athlete three sons, each of whom became NCAA Division I student-athletes; the oldest two in football and his youngest in basketball.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 An unmarked grave 1

Chapter 2 Survival 4

Chapter 3 Seeds 8

Chapter 4 Pittsburgh pedigree 29

Chapter 5 Rites of passage 39

Chapter 6 Satan's circus 54

Chapter 7 1901 65

Chapter 8 Physical culture 88

Chapter 9 St. Christopher 98

Chapter 10 Great struggle for victory 111

Chapter 11 A real corker 128

Chapter 12 As our white friends play it 159

Chapter 13 Wabash outlaws 185

Chapter 14 Sport for sport's sake 193

Chapter 15 A Janitor's key 201

Chapter 16 Virgil 221

Chapter 17 Maddening 232

Chapter 18 Supreme courts 250

Chapter 19 Loendi 262

Chapter 20 Outlaws 275

Chapter 21 Democracy lads 293

Chapter 22 The future of basketball 308

Chapter 23 Out-and-outers 332

Chapter 24 The New Negro 343

Chapter 25 Chicago crusaders 358

Chapter 26 "True world champions" 386

Chapter 27 World series of basketball 394

Chapter 28 The missing NBA team 398

Chapter 29 Vindication 412

Acknowledgments 423

Notes 429

Editorial Reviews

"For a game that has meant so much to the world, Claude Johnson somehow presents a definitive account for a part of basketball's history that for so long was kept away from us. Claude is a superhero storyteller, and this book is a bona fide superpower."

author of It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the W Justin Tinsley

"Claude Johnson has done almost as much to retrieve a missing era in our history––that of the Black Fives––as all the writers, filmmakers, and scholars working on the Negro Leagues combined were able to accomplish in telling Black baseball's story. The Black Fives is a deftly crafted, prodigiously researched, and groundbreaking book that shows not only why Black basketball mattered during the sport's segregated past, but what it matters today."

Rob Ruck

"It was an honor to have Claude speak to the Thunder organization, introducing our players and staff to the incredible history and persistence of the Black Fives. As their foremost historian, Claude's passion and rigor for the story of these people and teams are inspiring. Listening and learning from Claude's research and expertise is an important step in continuing to appreciate the legacy of these pioneers of the sport that brings to many people together."

Sam Presti

"Claude Johnson has written a wonderful and thorough history of African Americans in basketball, providing exhaustive historical context and enlightening anecdotes. The Black Fives is outstanding and unprecedented. Bravo!"

Kadir Nelson

"Claude Johnson has written a wonderful and thorough history of African Americans in basketball, providing exhaustive historical context and enlightening anecdotes. The Black Fives is outstanding and unprecedented. Bravo!"—Kadir Nelson

"It was an honor to have Claude speak to the Thunder organization, introducing our players and staff to the incredible history and persistence of the Black Fives. As their foremost historian, Claude's passion and rigor for the story of these people and teams are inspiring. Listening and learning from Claude's research and expertise is an important step in continuing to appreciate the legacy of these pioneers of the sport that brings to many people together."—Sam Presti, executive vice president and general manager, Oklahoma City Thunder

"For a game that has meant so much to the world, Claude Johnson somehow presents a definitive account for a part of basketball's history that for so long was kept away from us. Claude is a superhero storyteller, and this book is a bona fide superpower."—Justin Tinsley, author of It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World that Made Him

"Claude Johnson has done almost as much to retrieve a missing era in our history––that of the Black Fives––as all the writers, filmmakers, and scholars working on the Negro Leagues combined were able to accomplish in telling Black baseball's story. The Black Fives is a deftly crafted, prodigiously researched, and groundbreaking book that shows not only why Black basketball mattered during the sport's segregated past, but what it matters today."—Rob Ruck, professor of sport history, University of Pittsburgh, and author of Tropic of Football: Th

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2022

Historian Johnson (founder of the Black Fives Foundation) presents a treasure trove of information that dramatically reshapes American basketball history, detailing the invaluable role of Black Americans in shaping the game and contemporary basketball culture. "Black Fives" was an early term for all-Black basketball teams, whose history Johnson has spent 20 years researching and preserving. His interviews and archival documents are beautifully framed around stories of innovators of the game, providing a comprehensive historical context of the painful discrimination faced by Black Americans in the early 1900s and often today. Johnson's narrative spans from the creation of the sport by James Naismith in 1891 through the beginnings of the National Basketball Association in 1946. VERDICT Highly readable, this work should not be missed. Essential and highly recommended for all libraries.—Steve Dixon

Library Journal

In a soothing voice, the author narrates his own exhaustive dive into the origins of Black basketball, covering much of the first half of the twentieth century in detail. He goes back even further in tracing the roots of the pioneers who laid the foundation for the game in the 1800s. Occasionally, he lightly imitates someone but always with a tone of respect that denotes a quotation. This production is a definitive take on its subject. Will Anthony Madden is the central figure, but many other trailblazers are covered. Johnson, a historian’s historian, has preserved aspects of the past that might have fallen into obscurity. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

In a soothing voice, the author narrates his own exhaustive dive into the origins of Black basketball, covering much of the first half of the twentieth century in detail. He goes back even further in tracing the roots of the pioneers who laid the foundation for the game in the 1800s. Occasionally, he lightly imitates someone but always with a tone of respect that denotes a quotation. This production is a definitive take on its subject. Will Anthony Madden is the central figure, but many other trailblazers are covered. Johnson, a historian’s historian, has preserved aspects of the past that might have fallen into obscurity. M.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile