Earlier this week, the Women’s Pro Baseball League introduced it’s “First Four” teams that will participate in the WPBL’s inaugural season, and they all hold significant ties to Black and women’s history.
The teams represent four major cities, Boston, New York, LA and San Francisco, and based on the descriptions, you know that the league did its research and put thought into its team names.
“These identities stand on the shoulders of giants, with each team name inspired by a visionary women who blazed her own trail and paved the way for those who followed. We carry the legacies of these women with us as we prepare to take the field and write our own names into the history books,” posted the league on its site.
The Boston Hunters, with an Osprey (sea hawk) as it’s logo, looked to Harriot Hunt for inspiration. Hunt, per the website, was “one of the first women to practice medicine professionally in the USA, despite being denied admission to Harvard twice because of her gender.”
The Los Angeles Queens, choosing a crown and four diamonds as its logo, is inspired by Lizzie Murphy aka the “Queen of the diamond”, who, in 1922, became the first woman to play against major league baseball players.
The San Francisco Firebells, with a logo inspired by a fire bell and phoenix, draws inspiration from Lillie “Firebelle Lil” Hitchcock Coit who, at 15 years old in 1858, jumped in to help the city’s volunteer firefighter battle a blaze. She eventually became an honorary member of the engine company.
The New York Heights looked for inspiration in the pages of Black history and found it in Civil and Women’s rights activist, Dorothy Height.
Height was born on March 24th, 1912 in Richmond, Virginia and moved to New York for college. She was admitted to Barnard College but they didn’t allow Black students to attend, so she ended up at NYU where she received her bachelor’s in education and master’s in psychology.
After a career in social work, she joined the local Harlem YWCA and eventually became a leader in the organization. Then she shifted to politics and activism, joining the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and that was where she found her calling.
She fought for social justice reform, enacted voter registration drives and helped advance civil rights efforts across the country. In 1957, she was elected as the NCNW’s 4th president, a position she held for 40 years.
After decades of work, pushing for equal and civil rights across the globe, Height was presented with the Citizens Medal Award from President Ronald Reagan in 1989. In 2004, she was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal and was inducted into the Democracy Hall of Fame International.
During her long career, she received “an estimated 24 honorary degrees” and was recognized as one the primary leaders in the fight for equal and civil rights. She passed away at the age of 98 on April 20th, 2010.
So props to the WPBL for taking the time to identify the right cities and the right figures for inspiration for the teams as it readies for the start of its inaugural season, which will play all of its games at Robin Roberts stadium in Springfield, Illinois starting on August 1st, .
For more information on the league and teams, visit its website here.
