During the Jim Crow era at Arkansas's schools, African-Americans had to accept less. Student athletes were no different.
Athletes dealt with the same plights seen in the classroom: inequality of facilities and equipment, a smaller pool of competition with other students, and a lack of recognition from state and regional organizations.
It was commitment to excellence that fueled these competitors, as even sports could not draw a path to a college education outside of historically black schools. In spite of racial inequality, black high school Arkansas accomplished much. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education that opened enrollments in higher education, Arkansans soon helped desegregate university squads across the nation. Professional leagues came next.
High School Competitors
African-American high school athletes often received second-hand equipment and uniforms from all-white schools, if they received anything at all. Students at smaller schools from the state's rural parts suffered worse. Many male and female basketball players did not have shorts or shoes, so they played in jeans and socks or barefoot. But they still played. In Untold Stories: Black Sports Heroes Before Integration, Jim Barnes, a former NBA player and Newport native, recalled that he once totaled an astounding 64 points and 31 rebounds while wearing socks. High school football teams in the better equipped central Arkansas often had to loan equipment to its opponents.
Guv Covington, a former student at Little Rock's Dunbar High School, recalled in an oral history interview that an inequality of facilities also existed. "We had to practice on vacant lots...and we couldn't play on Friday nights like the other teams did. We had to play on Thursday or Saturday because we had to play at...[Central High School's] Quigley Stadium," he said.
Larger all-black schools had trouble finding opponents due to the limited number of schools with football or programs in Arkansas. many traveled throughout the region in search for games such as Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Despite this injustice, Arkansas's all-black high schools produced major talent. Byron Johnson graduated from Dunbar High School, even though that the school did not offer the sport. In 1936, a scout from the Negro League's Kansas City Monarchs recognized his skill set for the demanding position of shortstop and signed him to contract. The Monarchs playing in Little Rock several times a season in front of record-size crowds for a Negro League game; locals came to see their hometown star.
The all-black McRae High School In Prescott touted its own phenom. Bobby Walters was the football team's star running back in the early 1960s. He had a running style that some compared to as a professional, although when it was time for college, the segregated school system put him at a critical disadvantage for college recruiting. Seemingly, colleges had heard of his talent. Northwestern University Head Coach Ara Parseghian, future national championship-winning coach of the University of Notre Dame, considered signing him but ultimately passed due to the lack of game statistics or film. The likes of the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat did not cover him like much of Arkansas's all-black teams. All that is known that Walters graduated third in his class at McRae and ran for 96 career touchdowns. That is one less than the state record, although his name is missing in the official top-10 list for that category. In African-American Athletes in Arkansas, local historian Evin Demirel argued that similar oversights are common in the state's record books.
Arkansans Desegregating College Athletics
While Walters never joined a top football program, many Arkansans did. Sidney Williams, Dunbar’s star quarterback, joined the University of Wisconsin and started as the Big Ten conference's first black quarterback. He was the principal subject of a civil rights dispute in college football, as Louisiana State University (LSU) refused to allow him to play at its stadium. Wisconsin responded by canceling its series with LSU. He led the team to winning records.
Inside Arkansas, the state's universities desegregated in athletics. in 1969, the University of Arkansas offered a scholarship to Jon Richardson of Little Rock's Horace Mann High School, making him the first African-American scholarship player on the team. He graduated in 1972, while initially being a victim of racial epithets and death threats. T.J. Johnson from Menifee High School Joined the University of Arkansas basketball team as its first African-American scholarship athlete. He soon transferred to the University of Central Arkansas and broke the same barrier.
Making the Roster
Although, there were many who found success. Bobby Mitchell of Hot Springs' Langston High School joined the Washington Redskins as its first black player. Elijah Pitts, a Mayflower native and star at Philander Smith College, joined the Green Bay Packers and scored two touchdowns in the first Super Bowl.
Many African-Americans from the state's segregated schools later entered professional leagues, although even the great athletes has trouble finding their place on a roster. For example, Henry Pennymon of Pine Bluff's J.C. Corbin High School could punt farther than the Detroit Tiger's starter, but the team did not sign Pennymon due to a self-imposed quota allowing only two African-Americans on the team.
Demirel, Evin. African-American Athletes in Arkansas. ED Productions, LLC., 2017.
Ivy, Darren and Jeff Krupsaw. Untold Stories: Black Sports Heroes before Integration. Marceline, MO: Walsworth Publishing, Co., 2002.
Jones-Wilson, Faustine C. and Erma Glasco Davis. Paul Laurence Dunbar High School of Little Rock, Arkansas. Virginia Beach: Donning Company Publishers, 2003.
Jared Craig is the virtual exhibit coordinator at UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture. His research interests include political history in the American South, folklore, crime, and the media.