HR 481 — A Resolution designating May 2, 2026, as "Negro Leagues Day" in Pennsylvania to remember the contributions African-American baseball players made to the game of baseball.

PRINTER'S NO.   3201

                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 481
                                                Session of
                                                  2026

     INTRODUCED BY FLICK, TIBURCIO, KHAN, HARKINS, GREINER, VENKAT,
        SANCHEZ, RIVERA, MAYES AND RYNCAVAGE, APRIL 14, 2026

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM, RECREATION AND ECONOMIC
        DEVELOPMENT, APRIL 15, 2026


                                 A RESOLUTION
 1   Designating May 2, 2026, as "Negro Leagues Day" in Pennsylvania
 2      to remember the contributions African-American baseball
 3      players made to the game of baseball.
 4      WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has significant historical ties to
 5   Negro League baseball teams and was home to many African-
 6   American baseball players prior to the league's formal
 7   organization in 1920; and
 8      WHEREAS, In 1865, one of the first Negro baseball clubs, the
 9   Philadelphia Pythians, was formed by Octavius Catto and Jacob C.
10   White, and in 1867, the Philadelphia Pythians were denied
11   admission to the National Association of Base Ball Players
12   based on their race; and
13      WHEREAS, In 1869, the Pythians took the field at 25th and
14   Jefferson Streets in Philadelphia and played one of the first
15   interracial games against one of Philadelphia's oldest baseball
16   clubs, the Olympic Ball Club; and
17      WHEREAS, Though the Pythians closed down, the Philadelphia
18   Giants formed and became one of the strongest Black baseball
 1   teams of their time; and
 2      WHEREAS, From 1904 through 1909, the Philadelphia Giants won
 3   five eastern championships in six seasons, and six players from
 4   the Philadelphia Giants are in the National Baseball Hall of
 5   Fame (NBHF); and
 6      WHEREAS, In 1910, in Darby, Pennsylvania, the Hilldale
 7   Athletic Club was started as an amateur baseball club by owner
 8   and manager, Ed Bolden; and
 9      WHEREAS, In 1923, the Hilldale Athletic Club was a charter
10   member of the Eastern Colored League and won the league
11   championship in 1923, 1924 and 1925; and
12      WHEREAS, In 1924 and 1925, the Hilldale Athletic Club played
13   in the first two Colored World Series, losing in 1924 in
14   Philadelphia at the National League Park, commonly known as
15   Baker Bowl, before winning in 1925; and
16      WHEREAS, Outside of Pittsburgh, the Homestead Grays formed in
17   1912 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, joined the Negro National
18   League (NNL) in the 1930s before going on to win nine pennants
19   and three Negro World Series from 1937 through 1948; and
20      WHEREAS, The founder, Cumberland Posey and 15 men who played
21   for the Grays, are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame; and
22      WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Crawfords existed from 1931 to 1940
23   and were a charter member of the NNL, winning two league titles
24   in 1935 and 1936, and having eight members of the Pittsburgh
25   Crawfords team in the NBHF; and
26      WHEREAS, In the 1920s, the Harrisburg Giants had a legendary
27   outfield composed of Oscar Charleston, Rap Dixon and Fats
28   Jenkins; and
29      WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Stars won the 1934 Negro National
30   League championship with Hall of Fame players Biz Mackey, Oscar

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 1   Charleston and Jud Wilson; and
 2         WHEREAS, Josh Gibson moved to Pennsylvania as a child and was
 3   one of the most powerful baseball hitters of all time and has
 4   the highest lifetime batting average in Major League Baseball
 5   (MLB) history; and
 6         WHEREAS, Official MLB totals credit him with 171 home runs in
 7   league games while he may have hit 800 in all games; and
 8         WHEREAS, Roy Campanella from Philadelphia started his career
 9   in the Negro Leagues while still attending Simon Gratz High
10   School, in Philadelphia, and became a three-time National League
11   Most Valuable Player; and
12         WHEREAS, Roy Campanella signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers
13   organization in 1946 and made his Major League debut in 1948;
14   and
15         WHEREAS, Effa Manley, born in Philadelphia, was co-owner of
16   the Newark Eagles in New Jersey, and in 2006, Effa Manley
17   posthumously became the first woman inducted into the National
18   Baseball Hall of Fame; and
19         WHEREAS, George Stovey, a left-handed pitcher born in
20   Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1866, is widely considered the
21   best African-American pitcher of the 19th century; and
22         WHEREAS, African-American baseball teams and players from the
23   Negro Leagues are of historical significance to Pennsylvania's
24   rich athletic history; and
25         WHEREAS, The Negro Leagues Family Alliance proposes May 2 as
26   a National Negro Leagues Day as it was on May 2, 1920, that the
27   first Negro League game was played; therefore be it
28         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate May 2,
29   2026, as "Negro Leagues Day" in Pennsylvania to remember the
30   contributions African-American baseball players made to the game

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1   of baseball; and be it further
2      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize the
3   significant impact of the Negro League on the civil rights
4   movement in sports across the nation.




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