THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE
Search Results
Alvin Spearman
Maker interview details
Interview
- January 16, 2003
Profession
- Category:
SportsMakers
- Occupation(s):
Baseball Player
Birthplace
- Born: August 26, 1926
- Birth Location: Chicago, Illinois
Favorites
- Favorite Color: Black and Blue
- Favorite Food: Chicken
- Favorite Time of Year: Summer
- Favorite Vacation Spot: Nassau, Bahamas
Favorite Quote
"If I Knew Better, I’d Do Better"
Biography
Al Spearman was born on August 26, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. Spearman was a member of an amateur baseball team when some friends asked him to join Chicago's Negro League team, the Chicago American Giants. He was a pitcher for the American Giants from 1949-51 in addition to serving as an outfielder in a few games for the Kansas City Monarchs. After leaving the Negro Leagues, Spearman played baseball in Mexico, Canada, and Japan- where he was one of four Americans in the Pacific League. Spearman retired from baseball in 1959 to become a salesperson for the 7-Up Bottling Company. Spearman lived in Chicago. Spearman passed away on January 14, 2016.
Previews from the Digital Archive
Watch the full interview in the Digital Archive
- Slating of Alvin Spearman's interview
- Alvin Spearman lists his favorites
- Alvin Spearman talks about his family history
- Alvin Spearman remembers meeting his maternal grandfather, Cornelius Smith
- Alvin Spearman describes his mother, Connie Summage
- Alvin Spearman talks about how his parents met and their hometown Kiblah, Arkansas
- Alvin Spearman describes his father, Benjamin Franklin Spearman
- Alvin Spearman talks about education
- Alvin Spearman describes his childhood neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman describes his memories of Chicago's Washington Park
- Alvin Spearman describes his memories of childhood in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman talks about his grade school years at Willard Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman talks about sports heroes from his childhood including Joe Louis, Jessie Owens, and the Harlem Globetrotters
- Alvin Spearman talks about high schools in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman describes working at the post office as a high school student
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing sports at DuSable High School in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman talks about the Negro history program at DuSable High School
- Alvin Spearman describes his memory of Pearl Harbor and the economic boom of World War II
- Alvin Spearman talks about his football career at DuSable High School in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman talks about Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton
- Alvin Spearman remembers outstanding athletes at DuSable High School and Phillips High School in Chicago, Illinois
- Alvin Spearman talks about the evolution of safety equipment in sports
- Alvin Spearman recalls sports stars who also grew up in Chicago including Freddie Dawson, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, Joe Louis, and Ted Strong
- Alvin Spearman talks about the importance of staying active and why he learned to box
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing baseball in his teenaged years in a Sunday school league and in Chicago's industrial league with the likes of Buddy Young, Freddie Dawson, Bob…
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing with Satchel Paige
- Alvin Spearman talks about outstanding players in the Negro leagues like Smokey Joe Williams, HistoryMaker Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe, Buck Leonard, Hilton Smith
- Alvin Spearman details his transition from Chicago's industrial baseball leagues to the Negro Leagues
- Alvin Spearman talks about his brief stint with the Janesville Cubs as the only black on the team
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing for the Kansas City Monarchs
- Alvin Spearman describes his experience of racial discrimination while playing for the Houston Buffaloes
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing for the Chicago American Giants
- Alvin Spearman talks about Negro league players kept out of the Major Leagues
- Alvin Spearman talks about gentlemen's contracts and improving contracts in baseball
- Alvin Spearman describes the Stockton Ports in Stockton, California
- Alvin Spearman describes the difference in treatment abroad and at home
- Alvin Spearman talks about playing baseball in Japan after playing with the Harlem Globetrotters baseball team
- Alvin Spearman talks about his experience playing baseball abroad
- Alvin Spearman talks about his career highlights and his last game
- Alvin Spearman describes why he quit baseball
- Alvin Spearman talks about his career after professional baseball
- Alvin Spearman describes his pitching strategy
- Alvin Spearman describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
- Alvin Spearman talks about the relationship between sports and entertainment
- Alvin Spearman talks about the importance of making a living
- Alvin Spearman reflects upon his legacy
- Alvin Spearman talks about how he would like to be remembered
- Alvin Spearman narrates his photographs, pt.1