In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

7 The Southern against the South The first-half Pennant Controversy long before the season began, before any of the monarchs’ first-half victories, their application for league membership had been a point of significant contention among the teams from other, larger cities. “Chief among the problems and issues discussed [at the nashville meeting] were the fates of louisville, which city did not choose to enter league baseball, and the attempt of monroe, la., to force its way into the body over the protest of the other teams,” reported the Atlanta Daily World. “argument against monroe was that its location made travel from the other cities too much of a financial burden. While this battle was going on Chicago changed its plans and moved in as a regular member instead of merely associating with the group as was first planned.” The anti-monroe faction was not disclosed in newspaper reports, but the available evidence points to Thomas Wilson and the nashville group as the principal instigators. atlanta, birmingham, Chicago, indianapolis, little rock, louisville, memphis, montgomery , monroe, and nashville were voted franchises. little rock, memphis, and montgomery had reasonable journeys to monroe and played the monarchs more than any of the remaining nsl clubs. indianapolis had long distances to travel for all southern league games. louisville was a late inclusion into the league, as was Chicago. birmingham, atlanta, and nashville were each far from northeast louisiana, and each could have complained about the trip. Though the birmingham black barons were eventually voted a franchise, however, the Birmingham Reporter and team officials could not get word from the league office on their status for weeks. They didn’t have a manager until late march. atlanta was never even given a complete first-half schedule of games. both left the league in June, before the first half was ever completed.1 This leaves nashville. The previous year, the monarchs “won the title of champions of the south,” the unofficial minor league championship known as 96 / Chapter 7 the Dixie World series, by defeating the nashville elite Giants.2 and as the new season began, reuben Jackson, southern league president, stressed the need for a boost in attendance and actively courted big-name out-of-south teams like the Chicago american Giants, a club that became the most widely reported of all the nsl squads. monroe was by far the smallest of the included cities and could have been seen as a potential detriment to the league’s “major” status. reuben Jackson lived in nashville. born in sparta, Georgia, he had been a college football star at morris brown before attending meharry medical College in nashville. he took an mD in 1926, becoming a general practitioner and establishing an office at 1123½ Cedar street. Jackson drifts in and out of the historical record. he began his life after medical school with a clear plan for success, marrying bertha l. allen, establishing a general practice, and buying a home on nashville’s second avenue—a comfortable situation he maintained throughout his year-long tenure as nsl president and through 1937. During the 1932 season , he also served as medical examiner for the nashville Colored City schools. in 1934, he began a venture with fellow doctor henry C. floyd, the ever ready service station, which survived until 1941. When this business is considered along with his ventures in sports, Jackson appears to be a man of many interests (and, subsequently, many streams of income). in 1938, however, Jackson’s general practice office moved, and the doctor was boarding with a widow named Cleo D. moore. by 1940, he had abandoned nashville altogether. he returned in 1942 and remarried in 1946. Dr. floyd died that year, but Jackson did not actively participate in the funeral. in 1958, he drifted from the record forever. all those Jackson came in contact with through his tenure in nashville—and particularly through his early success—eventually fell away. Whether Jackson’s sins caught up to him or hard luck drove him away is impossible to know, but floyd’s death prompted a two-page obituary in the Nashville Globe chronicling the community ’s admiration for him—an accolade his former business partner certainly never received. Jackson’s $8,500 in 1933 taxable real estate holdings fell to $1,080 dollars by 1948, and the taxes of the latter were delinquent. Throughout, however— and particularly in those early years—Jackson maintained an active interest in sports.3 That interest and his early...

Share