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How the Chatham Coloured All-Stars made history by defying race barriers in baseball

Ninety years ago, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars became the first all-Black team to win the Ontario baseball championship. Now the story of their historic 1934 season, including the racist treatment they endured and their exploits on the field has resurfaced, and they’re getting their due as trailblazing Black Canadian athletes.

The Chatham All-Stars were the first all-Black team to win an Ontario baseball championship

CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 25, 2024 4:48 PM EST | Last Updated: November 25

A sepia-toned picture of the team members of the Chatham All-Stars with their coach. All wearing their baseball uniforms. Five members standing and five in front. — During the Great Depression, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars were the pride of Chatham’s East End. Most of the players hailed from the neighbourhood and played a fast, aggressive, exciting brand of baseball. (Courtesy of University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections)

Ideas53:59Breaking Barriers: The Trailblazing Chatham Coloured All-Stars

More than a decade before Jackie Robinson became the first Black player to take the field in Major League Baseball, a ball team from a small city in Southwestern Ontario was breaking colour barriers.

Ninety years ago, on May 17, 1934, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars opened their season at a packed Stirling Park – the community hub of Chatham's largely Black East End.

Led by players like Wilfred "Boomer" Harding, Kingsley "King" Terrell, and the legendary Earl "Flat" Chase – both an intimidating pitcher and a fearsome slugger renowned for his tape-measure home runs – the Coloured All-Stars had built considerable buzz.

"Everybody knew, in the neighborhood, all the men playing on the team…. And they played a really competitive, athletic, exciting kind of baseball," said Heidi Jacobs, author of 1934:The Chatham Coloured All-Stars' Barrier-Breaking Year.

Five months after their opener in October 1934, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars became the first all-Black team to win the Ontario Baseball Association championships, then known as the Ontario Baseball Amateur Association.

Wilfred “Boomer” Harding — Wilfred 'Boomer' Harding was the first baseman on the Chatham Coloured All-Stars. He was a teenager when he joined the All-Stars, hailed for his superior skill and athleticism. Harding also broke barriers by becoming the first Black player in the International Hockey League, playing for the Windsor Staffords in 1946. (Courtesy of University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections)

Earl “Flat” Chase — Earl 'Flat' Chase grew up in Windsor, Ont. He was the Coloured All-Stars’ pitching ace and top power hitter, who set records for the longest home run in several southern Ontario towns and cities. Chase 'was a formidable slugger, an intimidating pitcher and a charismatic person,' says author Heidi Jacobs. (Courtesy of University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections)

Fergie Jenkins Sr., Andy Harding, Ross Talbot — Left to right: Fergie Jenkins Sr. was a centre-fielder and joined the team in 1935; Andy Harding was one of eight children, including fellow Chatham Coloured All-Stars players Wilfred 'Boomer' Harding and Len Harding; and Ross Talbot played first base. (Courtesy of University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections)

Chatham Coloured All Star Championship photo — The 1934 Ontario Baseball Amateur Association champions, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, in a team photo taken before their historic run for the title. Team members are, front row, left: Stanton Robbins, Jack Robinson and Len Harding. Second row: Hyle Robbins, Earl (Flat) Chase, King Terrell, Don Washington, Don Tabron, Ross Talbot and Cliff Olbey. Back row: Coach Louis Pryor, Gouay Ladd, Sagasta Harding, Wilfred (Boomer) Harding and Coach Percy Parker. Manager Joe (Happy) Parker is absent. (Courtesy of University of Windsor, Archives and Special Collections)

Canadian history is no longer unknown

Until the past few years, the story of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars was not widely known outside their hometown.

But thanks to the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and the University of Windsor's Centre for Digital Scholarship, with the help of the Harding family, the legacy of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars lives on. They reconstructed the 1934 season, and the team's history through newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and interviews with the players and their descendants.

Everyone's efforts led to the Chatham Coloured All-Stars being inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2022 — 88 years after their 1934 season opener.

Go Breaking the Colour Barrier for more photos, interviews, history and school curriculum.

Heidi Jacobs - Stirling Park Chatham Coloured All Stars — Heidi Jacobs, author of 1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars’ Barrier-Breaking Season, at Stirling Park, which would be packed with hundreds of fans for home games. (Chris Wodskou/CBC)

A historical marker of the Chatham Coloured All Stars in a park — A historical marker was unveiled in the fall of 2023 in Stirling Park, the home field of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars in Chatham's East End. It commemorates the exploits of the Coloured All-Stars as they won the 1934 Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship. (Chris Wodskou/CBC)

Chatham Black Mecca Museum — A display of Chatham Coloured All-Stars artifacts and memorabilia at the Black Mecca Museum in Chatham, Ont. (Chris Wodskou/CBC)

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*This episode was produced by Chris Wodskou.

How the Chatham Coloured All-Stars made history by defying race barriers in baseball

The Chatham All-Stars were the first all-Black team to win an Ontario baseball championship

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Canadian history is no longer unknown

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