Interview with Donald Newcombe, May 4, 1976

Interview Summary

Donald Newcombe was born in Madison, New Jersey and his nickname was "Newk." He is a former Negro League and Major League baseball player. In this interview, he talks about his friendship with Happy Chandler, the role Chandler and Branch Rickey played in the integration of major league baseball, the pressure experienced by Jackie Robinson as the first black player, and Chandler's role in the players' organization and their pension plan. He also discusses the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jackie Robinson's relationship with Chandler, Robinson as a baseball player and as a person, the pressure on both Chandler and Rickey because of Robinson's signing to the major leagues, Chandler's losing the commissionership, the effect this had on the players, and Newcombe's career with the Newark Eagles, a Negro League team. He discusses how major league owners did not compensate the negro league owners when signing black players, the "Brooklyn Brown Dodgers" of 1946, his own experience with discrimination and prejudice, playing for the Montreal Royals in 1948, and his first games with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Other topics include Branch Rickey as a team owner and as a person, playing at Ebbets Field, and touring with a black all-star team in 1949 and 1950.

Interview Keyword

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Baseball Commissioner Baseball Dodgers Newark Eagles Don Newcombe

Interview LC Subject

Baseball--United States Chandler, Happy, 1898-1991 Negro leagues Newcombe, Donald Newcombe, Donald--Interviews African Americans

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.