The Basketball Team

For two seasons starting in January 1931, Robert Gilkerson sponsored a barnstorming basketball team under the same moniker as his baseball team, Gilkerson's Union Giants.

Like the Harlem Globe Trotters, who had  formed a few years prior, Gilkerson claimed that his new team would be comprised of players from the Savoy Big Five, a legendary African American team from Chicago. 

Gilkerson already had several connections to members of the Savoy team including Joe Lillard, who had played baseball for Gilkerson in 1929.  Lillard, a multi-sport athlete, would go on to play football in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals.  

The Big Five's assistant coach Robert "Bobby" Anderson had played baseball for Gilkerson as well and would become the head coach and occasional forward for Gilkerson's new team. 

Before the start of the season it was advertised that Tommy Brookins, another member of the Savoy team, would be playing forward for the Union Giants.  Brookins played in a few of the early games but doesn't appear to have stayed with the team long.  

Instead, the star of the Union Giants basketball squad was Sol Butler, world's champion long jumper and member of the 1920 Olympic team.  Butler had been a member of the Savoy Big Five in 1930 and was previously on the Forty Club and Chicago Defender basketball teams.

Other members of the Union Giants that first year included Tom Hall, Neil Robinson, Clifford Phillips and Julian "Al Jolson" Ramsey.  At some point in the season Phillips was replaced by Prince Zepho.

The Union Giants started the season off with a game near Spring Valley, Illinois at St. Bede College before heading to St. Louis.  The St. Louis Argus reported that "the team has just been outfitted with some of Leacock's flashiest uniforms and is reported to be one of the finest looking aggregations in basketball."  

For the next several months the Union Giants barnstormed in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota playing against mostly local teams.

On April 18, 1931 the Chicago Defender reported that the Union Giants finished the season with an overall record of 66 wins and 12 losses.   The paper claimed the team had  "38 consecutive wins, playing 30 games in 28 days during February, winning all of them."

Nine months later, the Union Giants started the 1931-32 season in Springfield, Illinois.  Sol Butler did not return and was instead replaced with Phillips.  The rest of the team stayed mostly the same except center Tom Hall was replaced by ? Wharton.

Like the year prior, the team barnstormed in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  As before, they played primarily local teams but occasionally faced off against other travelling squads such as Olsen's Terrible Swedes and the House of David.

The team that had eluded them for most the season however was the Harlem Globe Trotters, who traveled in much of the same territory as the Union Giants.  

On March 10, 1932, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reported, "The Giants last night challenged the Harlem Globe Trotters to a game any place at any time, winner take all.  According to Mr. Gilkerson, manager, he has been trying to get a game with Abe Saperstein's outfit for two years."

On March 30th, the Union Giants finally clashed with the Globe Trotters in Des Moines, Iowa, defeating them 39 to 14.   In a second game that same night, members of the Globe Trotters and the Union Giants combined to take on the Terrible Swedes.  Playing two games back to back proved to be too much.  They lost 33 to 19.

Two nights later, the Union Giants and the Globe Trotters met again in Marshalltown, Iowa.  This time the Globe Trotters won, 41-31.  Bobby Anderson committed nine personal fouls in the game.   

The Union Giants finished the season with two games in Iowa against Olsen's Terrible Swedes; winning one and losing the other.  These would be the last games that Gilkerson's basketball team would ever play.

The 1918 Season: The Spring Valley Giants

After a successful debut season spent mostly in Iowa, Gilkerson would have likely returned to the Hawkeye state in 1918 if not for World War I.  With most eligible players now required to work or fight, Gilkerson was forced to stay closer to home, making it the first summer in years he was not on the road either playing on or managing a traveling team.

On May 31, 1918 the Bureau County Tribune ran an announcement stating, "the management of Hicks' park in Spring Valley has made arrangements for a colored baseball team to represent that park this season."

"The aggregation will be composed almost entirely of colored ball players who represented the Chicago Union Giants last season.  Robt. Gilkerson, a well known colored baseball manager, will manage the Hick's park team.  The team will be known as the Spring Valley Giants."

Despite the claim, almost none of the players from the previous year came to Spring Valley to play for Gilkerson.   Bingham, Jones and Meredith were in the lineup for the very first game but only Will "Rabbit" Jones appears to have stayed with the team.  Instead, the Spring Valley Giants were most likely an interracial team composed of primarily local ball players.

The season opened at Hicks Park on June 2 against the neighboring Peru Stars.   The following Sunday they played the “Hartford Colored Giants of Chicago" who were reportedly being booked by Rube Foster.

Incredibly, Gilkerson was listed as playing shortstop in the game which suggests he had difficulty fielding a team.  Gilkerson had not worn a uniform in more than five years and proved to be a little rusty.  He had one hit and four errors, but his team still managed to win.

Over the course of the summer, the Spring Valley Giants played mostly local teams as well as a few clubs from Peoria, Illinois.  In August, it was reported that the Giants had won eleven games and had not yet lost a contest.

By September, they were playing almost exclusively against the Spring Valley Moose.  During that series, several of Gilkerson's players would occasionally switch sides and were found in the lineup for the Moose.  Further evidence of a player shortage.

In total, only about 15 games could be identified over the entire summer with most of them at Hicks Park on Sunday afternoons.  A far cry from the 100 plus games Gilkerson was used to managing in a season.   

In 1919, Gilkerson would return to barnstorming, leaving the Spring Valley Giants with only this one season.  No photos of the team are known to exist.

According to all the available box scores (5), the lineup for the Spring Valley Giants was constantly changing and included a rotating cast of area players.  Here are all of the names (including alternative spellings) associated with the short-lived team:  

• Anderson - ss  (from the Hartford Giants)
• Berry / Barry - cf
• Bingham - rf
• Boker, F / Booker - 3b, ss
• Boker, W - 1b
• Buffer - cf
• Ducks - lf, cf
• Edwards - 2b
• Gilkerson - ss
• Halpin, Tom - p
• Jenkins - cf
• Jones - 2b, 3b
• Kidd, James - lf
• Levandowski - lf
• Meredith - ss
• Monaghan / Mahoney - c
• Quinn - lf, rf
• Sampson - 1b
• Shamrock, rf
• Smith - c  (from the Three-I league at Rock Island)
• Summers - p
• Ternetti - lf
• Van Schaick - p

Eddie Dwight & Hurley McNair

Source: Phil S. Dixon (negroleagueman)

This photo of Eddie Dwight and Hurley McNair was likely taken sometime in 1929 or possibly 1930.  Both played on the Union Giants during those two years.  

Dwight started the '29 season with the Kansas City Monarchs but by August he was leading off the lineup and playing center field for Gilkerson.   In the photo he appears to still be wearing his Monarchs jacket and hat.  Previously, Dwight had played for the Union Giants in 1926 and '27.

Hurley McNair had a much longer history with Robert Gilkerson.  The two had been teammates on the Chicago Union Giants back in 1913.  McNair stayed on with the team in 1914 and again in 1916 with Gilkerson as his manager.

In 1917, McNair joined Gilkerson in Iowa as part of the Lost Island Lake Giants team.  He then rejoined Gilkerson and the Union Giants in 1919 mid-season.

When the Negro National League formed in 1920, McNair left to play with the Kansas City Monarchs where he stayed for eight years.  He spent one year with the Detroit Stars before returning to Gilkerson's team in 1929.  He played outfield for the Union Giants from 1929 to 1931.

In 1929, Gilkerson's Union Giants had a season record of 122-26-4.  In addition to Dwight and McNair, the team featured such players as Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and Cristóbal Torriente.

What is perhaps most interesting about this photo, besides the players, are the uniforms they are wearing.  Gilkerson's teams wore a variety of different designs over the years, however, this is the only picture that I'm aware of that shows this particular style.  

The lettering on the front is very similar to uniforms worn by the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants and other Negro League teams, yet it is very different than most of the other uniforms worn by Gilkerson's teams.  They likely only wore these for one season.

The 1917 Season: The Lost Island Lake Giants

Left to right:  Manager Robert Gilkerson, "Home Run" McNair, left field; "Rabbit" Jones, second base; Meredith, first base; "Happy" Bingham, center field; "Cyclone" Tyree, pitcher; "Cannonball" Blackburn, pitcher; "Speed" White, catcher; Si Burch, pitcher; "Flying Bee" Turner, shortstop

The story of Gilkerson's Union Giants really begins in 1917.  After seven full seasons with the Chicago Union Giants, first as a player, team captain and then manager, Robert Gilkerson parted ways with the historic club after the 1916 season.  During his tenure, the Chicago Union Giants had been primarily a touring team and were well-known throughout the Midwest.  

The owner of the Chicago Union Giants, William S. Peters, often promoted his club as the “oldest colored team in the Middle West.”  At times that claim was extended to include the entire United States.  While clearly a bit of promotional exaggeration, the team could trace its origins to the earliest days of Black baseball in Chicago thanks to Peters himself who played for and managed the Chicago Unions (a predecessor to the Union Giants) as early as 1887.

When Gilkerson left the team, he did NOT purchase the Union Giants from Peters or take control of it in any way as is often reported (more on this persistent myth in a later post). 

Instead, Gilkerson started his own team along with Union Giants player William “Bingo” Bingham.  An announcement published in the Chicago Defender on May 12, 1917 states, “W.L. Bingham blew into town a few days ago with R.P. Gilkerson of Spring Valley, Ill. who has been the traveling manager of the Union Giants, but now owns a team of his own at Arnold Park, Iowa.  They are open to all comers.”

This new team would spend most of that summer near popular lake resorts in northwest Iowa, providing entertainment to vacationers.  The area would have been known to both Gilkerson and Bingham since the Chicago Union Giants had played a few games there the year before. 

The promise of less travel, a familiar location and steady pay likely helped Gilkerson and Bingham convince several of their former teammates to leave Peters’ club and join them in Iowa.  This included Jess Turner, Edgar Burch, Clifford White and Hurley McNair.

To many of the Iowans living in the area, Gilkerson’s new team would have looked very similar to the Chicago Union Giants of the year before.  So much so that they were often referred to and even billed as the “former Chicago Union Giants.”  To add to the confusion, before arriving in Iowa, Gilkerson’s team played a series of games in downstate Illinois and were advertised simply as the Chicago Union Giants.

No mention was made of this being a new team and not the historic team from Chicago.  Perhaps this is why so many baseball historians have assumed that Peters must have sold his team to Gilkerson.  This however was not the case.

Peters’ Chicago Union Giants fielded a team in 1917 (and for decades after), playing most of their games that year in Chicago, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.  The star of that team was Peters’ son, Frank Peters, who played shortstop and occasionally second base.  Frank would eventually go on to manage the Chicago Union Giants for many years afterward.

In fact, when W.S Peters was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident in April 1933, his obituary mentions that his team was entering its 48th season and that his son would carry on with the club.  Even after Frank died, the Chicago Union Giants continued on into the 1940’s under the control of Frank Peters, Jr., making it one of the longest lasting semi-pro Black teams in baseball history.  A fact that has gone unheralded.

Despite having no real claim to the name of his former team, Gilkerson did not seem to have a problem using it to promote his new team.  At times in 1917 and for most of 1919 Gilkerson used “Chicago Union Giants” as his own.  Given that he had been so closely associated with the team for so many years, it is unlikely that any opposing teams and managers questioned it.  Also, since there was very little overlap in the territories in which the two teams played there were few consequences.

When Gilkerson’s team arrived in Iowa in late May 1917, they adopted the nickname the Lost Island Lake Giants, taken from the area lake where they played most games.  According to WWI draft registration cards, several of the players on the team lived in nearby Ruthven, Iowa.  When they were not playing at Lost Island Lake, they often played at Arnolds Park which sat at the center of five lakes roughly 30 miles to the north.

The Lost Island Lake Giants dominated most Iowa teams that summer.  In early August it was reported they had a 21-game winning streak.  On August 30, their record was listed at 49 wins, 8 losses and 1 tie with no losses on their home grounds.  The team, it was reported, “claim the baseball championship of the state of Iowa and are willing to back the claim against all comers.”

In September the Lost Island Lake Giants entered a tournament in Sioux City during the week of the Interstate Livestock Fair.  An article in the Sioux City Journal mentions that they had recently returned from a trip to Minnesota.  It also gives their record at 63-9-1 and mentions decisive victories over the Tennessee Rats and American Giants of Chicago.

Over the course of the fair, the Giants beat teams from South Dakota and Iowa to win the tournament on September 20.  The newspaper named them “semi-pro baseball champions of the northwest.”  It also mentioned the team was headed to Kansas City to play a series with the All-Nations team.

As soon as they left Iowa the team dropped the Lost Island Lake moniker and were once again playing as the Chicago Union Giants.  In Kansas City, the Union Giants were scheduled to play Schmelzer’s All-Nations team in a three-game series between September 22-24.  According to the only line score found, the Union Giants lost the first game 5-3.  

Afterward, both teams quickly left for Topeka, KS where they played another three games series against each other.  This is likely how Gilkerson and his team closed their first season.

For additional reading, see the following posts on Gary Ashwill's blog Agate Type, which include more details about some of the players on the 1917 team:  Lost Island Giants and Return of the Lost Island Giants

Newtown = Stephens City

Almost every online source lists Robert Gilkerson's place of birth as Newtown, Virginia, which is in King and Queen County.  This includes Seamheads, Baseball Reference and Wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this is not accurate.

I believe he was actually born in Stephens City or nearby Winchester, Virginia - both in Frederick County which is located near the northern tip of the state.   

How did so many other sources settle on Newtown, which is more than 100 miles away on the other side of the state?

The single source for this bit of misinformation, as far as I can tell, is Gilkerson's draft card from 1942 which clearly reads "Newtown" as place of birth.  

Gilkerson would have certainly filled out this form himself, therefore making it a reliable source normally.   

The issue however is that in the 19th century there were literally dozens of Newtowns in Virginia, including one in Frederick County.  Predictably, this caused a lot of confusion when it came to mail delivery and other services.  The result was all but one of the Newtowns had to change their name.  

Around the time of Gilkerson's birth, the Newtown in Frederick County went through a series of name changes but eventually settled on Stephens City.  To local residents at the time however, their town was likely still referred to as Newtown.  

This might explain why Gilkerson listed "Newtown" on that document all those years later, when in fact, he was born in what is now Stephens City.  Even today, Stephens City still celebrates their history with a Newtown Festival. 

To add to the confusion, in the Social Security Death Index, Gilkerson's birth place is listed as Winchester, VA.  In some ways this gives support to the idea that Gilkerson was born in or around Stephens City and not the Newtown across the state.  Winchester and Stephens City are only about five miles apart.  

Whether he was born there or not, it does seem that Robert Gilkerson lived in Winchester as a young man.   In 1897, the Winchester newspapers reported on two youths arrested for throwing rocks at and "otherwise annoying" an elderly woman.  One of them was named Robert Gilkeson.     

In the 1900 census record, Robert Gilkeson was shown to be residing in Winchester with his grandmother.  He is listed as being a 17-year-old errand boy with a birth date of February 1883 (three years older than what is commonly accepted as Robert Gilkerson's birthday of February 10, 1886).

Sometime within the next few years, Gilkerson made his way north to Pennsylvania to start his baseball career.  He would never again live in Virginia.

Gone But Not Forgotten

For 80 years Robert Gilkerson lay in unmarked grave in the southeast corner of Miller Cemetery in Spring Valley, Illinois.

The house at 118 Dalzell St., where Gilkerson lived and died, still stands just a few blocks away.  The remnants of Hicks Park where his players held "spring training" every April, is a short distance just to the southeast.

Even though the Union Giants were one of the most popular independent baseball teams in the Midwest at one time, there are no historical markers commemorating Gilkerson's life or accomplishments.

In fact, almost no one in Spring Valley today has ever heard the name Robert Gilkerson.  Even among fans of baseball and local history, the town's connection to Black baseball is a complete mystery.

Gilkerson was all but forgotten in his adopted hometown.  That is, until very recently, when the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project provided him with a proper grave marker. 

Thanks to this organization's generosity and commitment to preserving the memories of African American ball players, Gilkerson like many others, will not be forgotten.  Hopefully this marker sparks interest in Gilkerson's life, particularly in the place where he lived for 30 years, and helps get him the recognition that he deserves.

Hawkeye Gilkerson

The first evidence of Robert Gilkerson’s baseball career appeared in the Pittsburg Press on April 10, 1904.  

The newspaper ran a photo of a young Rob “Hawkeye” Gilkerson with the caption “shortstop of the fast East End team of Johnstown.”

By May of 1904 Gilkerson was playing second base for the Smoky City Giants, an African American team based in Pittsburgh.

The Smoky City Giants that year were led by Nathan “Nate” Harris and included other notable players such as Andrew “Jap”Payne and Emmett Bowman.  

The team’s box scores are extremely limited for 1904 but Gilkerson shows up regularly in the few printed in June and July.