IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION urging the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to select the legendary John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil as the recipient of the 87th NAACP Spingarn Medal.
Intro
RESOLUTION # 13968, December 17, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Ronald E. Finley, County Legislator
Body
WHEREAS, the Spingarn Medal, established by Joel Elias Spingarn who was elected Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1914, has honored the achievements of distinguished African Americans for many years; and,
WHEREAS, in 1915, Earnest Everett Just, a former professor of Biology at Howard University, was the first distinguished African-American to receive this award; and,
WHEREAS, other award recipients included John Hope Franklin, Charles W. Chestnut, Mary McLeod Bethune, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Earl G. Graves, Sr, Meyrlie Evers-Williams, Rosa Parks, among many others; and,
WHEREAS, John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, Chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, has been nominated by the local chapter of the NAACP and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to receive the 87th Annual Spingarn Medal; and,
WHEREAS, although segregation once denied him the opportunity to play baseball in the Major Leagues, Buck O'Neil is still widely regarded as baseball's greatest ambassador; and,
WHEREAS, he joined the Negro Leagues as first baseman with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1938, led the Negro Leagues in batting average in 1946, and was named manager of the team in 1948; and,
WHEREAS, he helped desegregate the game of baseball in 1962 by joining the Chicago Cubs as the first African American coach in the history of the Major Leagues, coaching future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Lou Brock; and,
WHEREAS, during his baseball career he played on nine championship teams, managed five East-West All S...
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