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Civic pride
Katherine Richardson (left) of the Camden Archives and Museum, and Camden Mayor Alfred Mae Drakeford welcome visitors to the Larry Doby exhibit at the city’s African-American Cultural Center.
Photo credit: Tim Hanson
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While you’re here …
Take a selfie with Larry Doby (or at least a life-sized bronze replica of the baseball legend) at the Camden Archives and Museum, 1314 Broad Street. The statue is part of the 2013 “Reconciliation” art installation by local sculptor Maria Kirby-Smith. It shows Doby standing at home plate, signing a baseball for another native son who defied prejudice, Jewish financier and philanthropist Bernard Baruch, an advisor to Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
Photo Credit: Keith Phillips
When visitors enter the new African-American Cultural Center of Camden, a giant photograph of baseball great Larry Doby dominates the south wall of the small wooden building. The picture shows Doby and Cleveland Indians teammate Steve Gromek hugging each other, their eyes nearly closed, broad smiles spread across their faces.
Doby, a Camden native and the first African-American to integrate the American League, always cherished that photo, taken just after their Game 4 win against the Boston Braves in the 1948 World Series. But the image of a black man and a white man with their arms wrapped around each other in joy and friendship infuriated those in the grip of racial prejudice.
“The photo evidently caused a huge controversy,” says Rickie Good, curator of collections at the Camden Archives and Museum. “It was just two teammates celebrating a World Series win.”
The photo is one of dozens of items—signed baseballs, trading cards, comic books, figurines and other Larry Doby memorabilia—on display at the center, which opened in February as a city initiative to celebrate local African-American history. The display honoring Doby’s remarkable career was an immediate hit, says Camden Mayor Alfred Mae Drakeford.
“We had more than 200 people go through the center that day to see the exhibit,” Drakeford says.
Doby was born in Camden in 1923 and spent the first years of his life there. Later, his family moved to New Jersey where he attended high school and college. He excelled at many sports, but it was baseball that eventually won his heart.
He played in the Negro Leagues throughout the 1940s, except for a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II. When he signed to play center field for the Indians in 1947—just weeks behind Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers—he became the second African-American to break the MLB color barrier.
Doby enjoyed a stellar career, and let his on-field performance speak for him: seven consecutive appearances on the All-Star roster, a .283 batting average, 253 home runs and 970 runs batted in. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998, says Katherine Richardson, director of the Camden Archives and Museum.
“He never really achieved the acclaim that Jackie did because Jackie was the first,” she says. “Larry was just a real quiet, dedicated baseball player who was really good at what he did.”
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Get There
The African-American Cultural Center of Camden is located at 517 York Street in downtown Camden.
Hours: Open from 1–4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The center is closed on Sundays and major holidays. The Larry Doby collection will run through Aug. 30.
Admission: Free.
Details: Call (803) 425-6050; classicallycarolina.com/camden-archives-museum/AACCC or facebook.com/AfricanAmericanCamden.
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By the numbers: Larry Doby’s MLB career highlights
Batting average: .283
Home runs: 253
Runs batted in: 970
7-time All-Star (1949–1955)
2-time American League home run leader (1952, 1954)
1 World Series championship (1948)