Last updated: January 22, 2025
Place
Oak Ridge Wayside: Oak Ridge Bombers
NPS
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Subtitle
Segregated Sports in Oak Ridge
Main Text
During World War II, one of the few organized recreational opportunities available to African American men in Oak Ridge was baseball. In early August 1944, an African American baseball league was formed of six teams named after Clinton Engineer Works contracting companies: Roane-Anderson; Stone and Webster; J.A. Jones; Ford, Bacon and Davis; Keith Williams; and Carbide and Carbon. Games were held at sites throughout Oak Ridge including a segregated baseball diamond near the African American hutment area and an integrated diamond near much of the segregated housing at K-25.
This African American league could have been the genesis of the Oak Ridge Bombers, a semi-pro team created and managed by Robert Lee and James Capshaw in the late 1940s. Lee and Capshaw organized the African American men excluded from playing on white teams. These players, primarily workers from the postwar Oak Ridge plants, would work fulltime jobs and play traveling baseball on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the Southeast. The Oak Ridge Bombers continued to play into the mid-1960s, well after Jackie Robinson integrated professional baseball in 1947.
Exhibit Panel Description
A black and white exhibit panel on a brown frame approximately four feet tall. The panel has a black band at the top and a title underneath that reads "Oak Ridge Bombers: Segregated Sports in Oak Ridge." The center of the panel is covered by a black and white photo of an African American baseball team. The text is at the bottom of the panel.
Visit This Exhibit Panel
The Oak Ridge Bombers wayside is located at the Oak Ridge Baseball Complex, 15 Wilberforce Ave, Oak Ridge, TN.
Segregated Sports in Oak Ridge
Main Text
During World War II, one of the few organized recreational opportunities available to African American men in Oak Ridge was baseball. In early August 1944, an African American baseball league was formed of six teams named after Clinton Engineer Works contracting companies: Roane-Anderson; Stone and Webster; J.A. Jones; Ford, Bacon and Davis; Keith Williams; and Carbide and Carbon. Games were held at sites throughout Oak Ridge including a segregated baseball diamond near the African American hutment area and an integrated diamond near much of the segregated housing at K-25.
This African American league could have been the genesis of the Oak Ridge Bombers, a semi-pro team created and managed by Robert Lee and James Capshaw in the late 1940s. Lee and Capshaw organized the African American men excluded from playing on white teams. These players, primarily workers from the postwar Oak Ridge plants, would work fulltime jobs and play traveling baseball on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the Southeast. The Oak Ridge Bombers continued to play into the mid-1960s, well after Jackie Robinson integrated professional baseball in 1947.
Exhibit Panel Description
A black and white exhibit panel on a brown frame approximately four feet tall. The panel has a black band at the top and a title underneath that reads "Oak Ridge Bombers: Segregated Sports in Oak Ridge." The center of the panel is covered by a black and white photo of an African American baseball team. The text is at the bottom of the panel.
Visit This Exhibit Panel
The Oak Ridge Bombers wayside is located at the Oak Ridge Baseball Complex, 15 Wilberforce Ave, Oak Ridge, TN.