Ed Bolden and Black Baseball in Philadelphia by Courtney Michelle Smith (review)

In 1927 Sol White named Ed Bolden one of the six greatest figures in colored baseball. At that time, he was less than halfway through his baseball career, and had not yet reached his peak. Bolden truly lived up to the moniker White bestowed upon him–a “great modernist.”

Courtney Michelle Smith has produced the most detailed account to date of Edward W. Bolden’s role in black baseball. She has thoroughly combed contemporary newspapers, dug through the relevant archival collections, and read all the major secondary sources. The result is a comprehensive coverage of one of black baseball’s greatest personalities.

As thorough as her coverage is, there are some gaps that could have been filled had she not overlooked several academic articles on Bolden, Hilldale, and the Negro Leagues of the 1920s and 1930s. The most glaring omissions are in regard to the business dealings of the Negro Leagues in general and Hilldale in particular. There have been several published articles that are easily accessible in academic journals (Black Ball, Nine, the Baseball Research Journal, for example) that would have provided excellent background material to flesh out the financial details of her story, particularly the discussions about the struggles of the various Negro Leagues and the less than enthusiastic response of Bolden and other black executives to the integration of MLB. She also missed an important exchange of articles addressing the rumor that Bill Veeck intended to buy the Phillies and stock them with Negro League stars. In fact, there is not a single journal article listed in the bibliography, though a few appear in the footnotes (more on that oddity later).

Smith begins with a nice, broad overview of black baseball in Philadelphia leading up to Bolden’s appearance on the scene, as a scorekeeper and then executive for the Hilldale Daisies. From there it covers the rise of Hilldale, Bolden’s role in the rise and fall of various Negro Leagues, the ultimate fall of Hilldale and Bolden personally, and his resurrection with the Philadelphia Stars. Bolden was a remarkable, though, as Smith shows, flawed man. His actions led to his downfall as well as that of more than one entire league. But in the end, she convincingly argues that his achievements overshadow all else. He took two different franchises to championships, led three different leagues, and served as a role model for Philadelphia’s black community.

Like Bolden, Smith’s book is a bit complicated. While it does cover the topic quite thoroughly, it is not without its issues. Most of my complaints are more likely the fault of the editor, or lack thereof (as is often the case with a McFarland book). There are typos, grammatical inconsistencies, and tortured paragraph transitions, all things that a good editor would have caught. The footnotes and bibliography do not match. There are sources in the bibliography that are not cited in the footnotes, and numerous items cited in the footnotes that do not appear in the bibliography. There are incomplete citations (missing publisher and or date), and the index is woefully lacking. The most glaring example is the absence of even a single entry for Ed Bolden, meaning there is no way to quickly find information regarding any aspect of his life or work. There should be entries to index his mental breakdown, association with various leagues, and dealings with Rube Foster (another person strangely missing from the index), just to name a few of the more obvious topics that are not to be found. Again, a fault more of the editor than the author. A good editor would have helped avoid such annoying and distracting issues. Sadly, in the end, they do serve to detract from what is otherwise a fine effort.

Smith does an admirable job of pulling together a variety of sources. The result is a comprehensive look at the baseball career of Edward Bolden that includes a peek at the behind the scenes world of black...