Atlanta Black Crackers oral history interviews

The Atlanta Black Crackers were a Negro League baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The club was founded in 1919, by a group of local businessmen and began their first season as the Atlanta Cubs. By the end of the season, the team changed its name to the Atlanta Black Crackers after the city's white minor league team, the Atlanta Crackers. The club recruited players from local leagues and colleges such as Morris Brown and Morehouse, and were known as formidable opponents. In 1920, the team joined the Negro Southern League (NSL). Financial difficulties caused the team to dissolve before the end of the season, however, and it did not return to league play until 1925. The Black Crackers continued to struggle for several years, dissolving again by 1928. Efforts to revive the club were launched in 1935 and 1936, but were not completely successful. In 1937, John Harden and his wife Billie assumed ownership of the club. A year later, the Black Crackers moved to the Negro American League (NAL), winning the season's second half championship. In 1939, financial concerns moved the club to Indianapolis, Indiana where they played as the ABCs. The team was unsuccessful in Indiana and Harden decided to move the club back to Atlanta. As a result, the club was expelled from the NAL and disbanded until 1943. After two successful years, the team won both halves of the 1945 season to become the NSL champions. The Black Crackers disbanded permanently in 1949, four years after the integration of the major leagues.