The Wendell Smith Reader

With the world’s eyes on Jackie Robinson, there were not many who noticed the sportswriter who traveled by the baseball star’s side in 1946–47. Wendell Smith was a pioneer not only in writing, but in broadcast media as well, with a career that spanned 1937–1972 and included more than 1,500 written pieces. After an extensive biographical sketch, this work presents a collection of Smith’s writings. Chapters are organized to present him as one who chronicled Black history, traveled extensively, challenged racism, noted progress in racial relations, criticized friends, praised enemies, and bid farewell to notable figures who passed before him. Black athletes covered in his writings include Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Ernie Banks, and many more. When necessary, the editor provides commentary to provide context or illustrate key points.

Michael Scott Pifer lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Wendell Smith
Edited by Michael Scott Pifer
Introduction by Michael Marsh
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 305
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9175-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4941-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments xi
Preface 1
Introduction: Wendell Smith’s “Life of Splendor and Excitement” by Michael Marsh 5

1. Remembering Wendell 51
December 9, 1972, Hazel Garland’s Things to Talk About, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 13 51
December 9, 1972, Louis Martin’s The Big Parade: “We Mourn a notable friend,” The Pittsburgh Courier, p. 3 53
December 16, 1972, Dick Young, The Sporting News, p. 16 54

2. Black History 58
July 30, 1938, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 58
March 6, 1943, Sports Beat, “Young Frank Dixon Refutes Old Myth About Durability of Negro Runners,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 19 60
August 31, 1946, Sports Beat, “Marshall Bowling King,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 61
August 16, 1947, Sports Beat, “Louis Amateur King; Rhodes Tops Pros in Courier Meet,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 62
May 7, 1949, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 22 64
January 7, 1950, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 20 66
January 3, 1959, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 69
March 25, 1961, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 38 71
January 20, 1962, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 45 73
June 22, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 75
September 21, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 77
March 28, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 19 79
July 4, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 81
September 5, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 83
October 22, 1966, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 85
December 17, 1966, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 87
July 20, 1971, “Golfing riches still elude Sifford” by Wendell Smith, Chicago Sun-Times, p. 81 89
May 9, 1972, “Pressure hasn’t bothered Aaron in push for Ruth’s homer mark” by Wendell Smith, Chicago Sun-Times, p. 98 91

3. Jackie Robinson 94
April 27, 1946, The Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 94
June 7, 1947, The Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 97
March 19, 1949, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 10 100
May 19, 1951, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 102
February 26, 1955, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 12 103
January 19, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 106
February 9, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 108
May 20, 1959, The Sporting News, p. 4 110
June 3, 1961, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 34 113
May 17, 1964, “Changing Times in the U.S. and England,” Chicago Tribune, p. 190 115
January 26, 1971, “Jackie Robinson discusses old adversary Leo,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 72 117
November 4, 1972, “The Jackie Robinson I Knew,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 9 119

4. Foreign Affairs 123
July 19, 1941, Smitty’s Sports Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 123
January 10, 1948, Pittsburgh Courier, pp. 1, 4 125
April 10, 1948, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 13 128
August 14, 1948, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 7 130
November 7, 1953, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 131
July 25, 1959, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 134
May 12, 1962, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 45 136
April 27, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 11 137
July 27, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 139
December 3, 1972, Tuesday at Home Magazine, “Should the Olympic Games Be Continued,” pp. 269–275 141

5. Confronting Racism 150
December 10, 1938, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 150
November 9, 1940, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 18 152
February 23, 1946, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 12 153
January 26, 1952, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 155
November 9, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 24 158
September 24, 1960, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 160
January 28, 1961, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 37 161
April 15, 1961, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 38 164
January 6, 1962, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 32 166
August 15, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 167
August 4, 1970, “Dark still bothered by racist charge,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 75 169
October 31, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 172
March 13, 1965, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 174
February 3, 1970, “Ashe is caught in South Africa dilemma,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 80 176

6. Friendly Fire 179
May 14, 1938, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 17 179
June 17, 1939, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 17 181
December 18, 1943, Smitty’s Sports Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 183
September 1, 1945, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 12 185
January 26, 1946, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 188
January 24, 1948, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 190
March 12, 1949, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 10 192
January 12, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 22 194
July 18, 1959, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 195
December 7, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 197
October 3, 1964, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 199

7. Progress 202
October 29, 1938, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 17 202
August 19, 1939, “‘Owners Will Admit Negro Players If Fans Demand Them’—Cards’ Pilot,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 207
December 7, 1940, Smitty’s Sport Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 17 212
February 9, 1946, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 16 213
October 4, 1947, Sports Beat, “The Series Takes The Town…,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 13 215
December 29, 1951, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 217
August 8, 1953, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 219
July 3, 1954, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 222
June 22, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 224
August 2, 1958, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 226
September 17, 1960, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 52 228
December 8, 1962, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 18 229
March 26, 1966, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 11 231
February 27, 1971, We Believe… by C.C. Johnson Spink, Editor and Publisher, The Sporting News, pp. 17, 30 233

8. Women! 236
May 15, 1948, “Now the ‘New Look’ Is in the Fight Game,” Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 236
September 18, 1948, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 22 238
July 29, 1950, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 22 241
June 20, 1953, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 244
September 25, 1954, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 246
August 24, 1957, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 25 248

9. Muhammad Ali 251
August 3, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 251
January 16, 1965, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 253
December 11, 1965, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 255
January 20, 1970, “Foggy future keeps Cassius on the move,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 73 257
September 23, 1970, “Long layoff Ali undoing,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 87 259
November 17, 1970, “Chamberlain vs. Clay? It’s a good idea,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 80 261
March 9, 1971, “‘I Ain’t No Champ,’ Moans Once Invincible Ex-Champ,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 28 263
June 22, 1971, “A new Ali faces uncertain future,” Chicago Sun-Times, p. 81 264

10. Loss 267
May 15, 1943, Smitty’s Sports Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 18 267
December 2, 1944, Smitty’s Sports Spurts, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 12 268
November 20, 1948, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 10 269
July 19, 1952, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 14 271
December 25, 1954, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, pp. 1, 4 274
November 30, 1963, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 276
August 5, 1964, Sports Beat, Chicago Daily Defender, pp. 22, 28 278
November 27, 1965, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 280
April 2, 1966, Sports Beat, Pittsburgh Courier, p. 15 282

Bibliography 285
Index 287

• “A splendid and important book.”—Chicago Tribune

• “For the first time in more than 50 years, Chicago’s avid sports fandom can refamiliarize themselves with the insightful and generous writings of Wendell Smith.”—Chicago Reader

• “A sumptuous selection of Smith’s writings…Pifer has put together an exceptional collection…[Smith’s] strong prose and his interviewing skills make his writing still a joy to read…thanks to [Pifer], [Smith’s] impressive record will be forever etched in the minds of baseball historians and fans alike.”—Washington Examiner.