Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-02-23

, ly used the first months Of its ex-
/ tended life span to outline a mas
sive attack on race bias in any
form. Prompted by new pressure
: from the ICC and the US. Atty.
Generals Office, three major rail-
roads - the Illinois Central; Lou
/ isville and Nashville; and Southern
; -belatedly complied with five
year-old ICC ruling and ordered
all their facilities desegregated.
: Meanwhile, Agriculture Sec. Or
vile Freeman ordered that Negro
youths be included in the annual
L. All Club meetings in Washington,
D. c., after canceling the tradi-
, tionaI Jim Crow encampment.
/ A long list Of anti-bias legisla-
ton passed during 1861 by various
. states includes North Dakota's law
prohibiting bias in public places
. and Oregon's statute against bias
in "all services offered to public
/ Except for just cause)." Mime
! sofa, Wyoming, Ohio and Washing
ton outlawed cemeteries refusals
to bury because of the deceased's
race and Illinois passed a long
= awaited Fair Employment Prac-
tees law.
Even by comparison with the
preceding, Negro record-packed
, Olympic year, 1861 held its own as
/ a period of outstanding sports
achievements by American athletes
of color. One of them, world heavy
: weight champion Floyd Patterson.
; successfully defended his regained
crown for the second time by
crushing the title hopes of his Irish
: challenger, Tom McNeeley, with
convincing knockout in the fourth
round of their Toronto bout.
In baseball, former second base
man of the Pittsburgh Pirates,
Gene Baker, became the first Ne
gro ex-major Lacquer to advance to
the position of manager of major
. league farm team. And Cincinnati
Reds outfielder Frank Robinson
was voted the Most Valuable
+ Player" of 1861 by the Baseball
Writers Assn. while United Press
InternationaPs board of baseball
experts picked Chicago Cubs out
fielder, Alabama-born Billy Will
liams, as the National Leagues
Rookie of the Year" He had
played 146 games and batted .27S
with 20 doubles, seven triples, Is
homers, rs runs, SO RIBS and six
stolen bases. During a twi-night
double header, Bill White, first
baseman of the st. Louis Cardinals
tied the late Ty Cobbs record of
IA hits in four consecutive games.
The record had stood unchallenged
for 40 years.
In football, 212-pound Syracuse
I University's senior halfback Ernie
, Davis became the first member of
his race to win the coveted Heis-
0 man Trophy as college footballs
1861. player of the Year" He
e polled 824 points to the I'll points
e polled by runner-up, Negro full
back Bob Ferguson. Davis subse-
I quent draft by the Washington
Redskins was the first of a Negro
player in the teams history.
Track star Wilma Rudolph did
not rest on her Olympic laurels but
went on to set new world record
in 100-meter dash with 11.2 Sec
onds during us. German ex-
hibition track meet in Stuttgart,
Germany. Taking a cue from her,
Olympic champ Ralph Boston
topped his own world broadiump
record of 81 feet by half an inch,
while sprinter Frank Budd ran 100
yards in 9.3 seconds to tie a stand
ing world record.
In the world of pro basketball,
in which Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin
Baylor, Oscar Robertson and Bill
Russell added to their record
breaking feats of 1860, John 3.
McLendon was signed to a two
year contract by the Cleveland
Pipers of the new American
League and became the first Ne
gro head coach in professional
sport.
In golf, the nations only remain
ing popular sport which bars Ne
groes from many Of its competi-
tons, professional player Charlie
Sifford cracked Dixie's color bar
when he became the first Negro to
participate in the Greater Green's
boro Open Golf Tournament in
North Carolina. Meanwhile, the
Professional Golfer Assn. took a
far-reaching step toward Kidding
the sport of bias by eliminating
from its constitution a clause bar
ring non-Caucasians from member
ship.
Far-reaching effects benefiting
Negro theater lovers are expected
from a 1861 agreement between
the League of New York Theaters
and Actors Equity on total de-
segregation of the American legit-
innate stage. Both organizations
hope to accomplish that objective
by jointly using their influence on
actors and producers to the point |