1. A Book Proposal For…
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATHLETE
by Francis C. Harris & Charles F. Harris, Jr.
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW
SELLING POINTS & TARGET AUDIENCE
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
MARKETING & PROMOTIONS
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
VOLUME SUMMARIES
SAMPLE MATERIAL
03
04
05
07
09
11
14
Contact Iinformation:
Leticia Gomez
leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com
3. GENERAL OVERVIEW
At a time when modern civil rights are being challenged outright every single day and this country is as racially divided as
ever (if not more) comes a century spanning series chronicling the outstanding achievements of African-American athletes
in all their glory. Historically accurate, visually stunning and painstakingly researched, the four-volume series entitled The
Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete by Francis C. Harris and Charles F. Harris, Jr., is the culmination of more
than twenty years of extensive research and 2.5 million dollars invested. These funds were invested by Alpha Zenith
Media Corporation. There are two Collegiate volumes and two Professional volumes of this historic collectible series,
which documents the achievements of the African-American athlete during the span of OVER one hundred years.
When published as a series of paperbacks the Harrises believe the content could become 20 to 25 soft cover books. The
authors worked closely with archivists from historically black colleges and universities, and sports information directors
from every major college and university in the United States. The authors have given written and visual documentation
of the African-American athlete, a feat that has never been done this extensively. The Pictorial History of the African-
American Athlete is a personalized approach to the documentation of the African-American athlete and these volumes tell
the stories of heroes and legends that may have been lost or never were told. The reach of this work will go well beyond
a series of books. Conversations with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and
Culture in Washington, DC and major film directors are already in the works.
Each volume of The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete has 2,500 digitized, high resolution scanned
photographs. The Collegiate volumes are separated into two eras. In Collegiate Volume 1, the late 1800s to 1945, the
reader will find the entire athletic history of thirty-one historically black colleges and universities arranged in the order of
the year each school was founded.
Following these schools, in alphabetical order, are thirty-five major colleges and universities. The criteria the authors have
selected are men and women athletes who were selected All Conference, All-American, and those athletes inducted into
school’s athletic hall of fame or who’ve had outstanding collegiate careers. Also included are athletic
directors and coaches.
The first African-American to compete in any sport is the criteria used to
categorize each college or university in each volume. For example: George
Albert Flippin played halfback at the University of Nebraska from 1892
to 1894. The entire athletic history of African- American participation at
the University of Nebraska from 1892, until the present is in Collegiate
Volume 1. Amherst College, Boston University, Boston College,
University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, Harvard
University, New York University, Oberlin College, and the University
of Pennsylvania are some of the institutions in Collegiate Volume 1.
African-Americans began playing sports at major colleges and
universities in the South and a majority of the schools in the
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 3
4. Southwest after 1946. The achievements of these athletes are documented in Collegiate Volume 2 (1946 to the present).
For example: Perry Wallace, who attended Pearl High School in Nashville, Tennessee, was the first African-American to
compete in basketball in the Southeastern Conference at Vanderbilt University from 1967 to 1970.
Vanderbilt University is found in Collegiate Volume 2 with the University of Alabama, University of Florida, Manhattan
College, University of North Carolina, St. John’s University, University of Texas, and 90 other colleges and universities in
alphabetical order. In-depth biographical and statistical information on each athlete makes these books compatible for CD-
ROM and the Internet.
The Professional Volume 3 documents the history of African-American participation in Baseball, Football, Basketball, and
Boxing. Baseball begins with the first African-Americans to play organized collegiate and professional baseball prior to
1915. The second part focuses on outstanding Negro League players and teams and includes detailed biographical and
statistical information. Negro League players who are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame are also featured.
The third part of this section profiles National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, and the final part of baseball profiles Major
League teams, the specific players in the history of each franchise and their statistics.
Featuring modern day legends and little heard of before athletes, The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete
promises to be the go-to source for professional and personal research into the rich and inspiring history of African-
American athletes from the last century and beyond. Its publication promises to be a welcome respite of positivity in the
seemingly daily grind of negative news cycles and an affirmative guide for future generations to come.
SELLING POINTS & TARGET AUDIENCE
• All four volumes of The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete can be marketed in every major city in the United States.
Numerous prestigious colleges and universities in the country are represented; including many of the 103 Historically Black Colleges
and Universities. In the two Collegiate volumes you will find alumni of dozens of schools, as well as fans who identify with their
favorite college or university. A much younger audience who might not know the sports history of these schools is also a potential
market.
• There are thirty-one historically black colleges and universities represented in the Collegiate volumes. There are 42 million African-
Americans in the United States. According to the U.S. Census of 2013, 17 percent of this number over the age of twenty-five have
bachelor’s degrees and 1.2 million have an advanced degree (e.g., master’s, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.). Eighty-five percent of these
graduates attended historically black colleges and universities. These schools have very strong alumni associations on a national
basis. More African-Americans attend or watch black college football games on Saturday afternoons than the amount of African-
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 4
5. Americans who look at National Football League games. The history of athletics at these schools has never been told until now, so
you will attract both an older and younger audience who will be receptive to these books.
• Every franchise in the National Football League is represented in the Professional Volume 3. The illustrations included in this book are
from NFL photos, UPI-Bettman, and Associated Press. The NFL is the largest spectator sport in the United States, so this volume can
appeal to an audience in every city in the nation.
• Every franchise in the National and American Leagues of organized baseball is also represented in Professional Volume 3. There is
an audience in every major city that can identify with their favorite team, and learn about the history of other teams. This volume also
has an in-depth section on the history of Negro League Baseball, which will appeal to an old and young audience. Negro League
hats and T-shirts sell very well across the country, so this is an audience that will also be receptive. There is also a new
audience that may be fans of baseball, but don’t know the history of the Negro Leagues or the players.
• Basketball has an international fan base. The Harlem Globetrotters are second only to the New York
Yankees as the American sports franchise known on a global basis. The Professional Volume 3 has
an in-depth biography on the franchise from its beginning to the present day “Trotters.” The Harlem
Globetrotters have given us the worldwide rights in all languages to use these photographs. The
basketball section also includes the Hall of Fame inductees, and the 60 best players in the history
of the National Basketball Association. These photos come from the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame and NBA Photos. This section would appeal to old as well, as a young audience
(included are present day players such as Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim
Duncan, Vince Carter, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, etc.). For the female fans there is a section
on specific players in the history of the Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA) players.
• The Olympics are an international sporting event, and track and field athletes are recognized globally.
The in-depth section on Olympic track and field medalists that appears in Professional Volume 4 is
another section that appeals to a global audience. There has never been a book that profiles African-
American track and field athletes on the in-depth level of Professional Volume 4, and this is another section
that will appear to an audience of all ages.
• Revenue from The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete can be generated through royalties, audio book,
Internet website, museum rights, lecture series, film and television synchronization, (a documentary comparable to Ken Burn’s
Baseball and the Civil War would be ideal for this series, as well as individual stories that appear throughout these volumes). Ancillary
income could include merchandise (T-shirts, hats, calendar, posters, touring photo exhibition, etc.), corporate sponsorship, and
endorsements.
• These books can be condensed into smaller versions that could be adapted for a course on the history of the African-American athlete
that could be taught at the high school and collegiate levels. This would increase sales of the books. This series will also have a large
female audience, because women athletes are profiled in all four volumes.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Francis C. Harris is an author and historian with a focus on the history of African-Americans in sports. He is the co-author
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 5
6. of The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete, a four-volume series documenting the history of African-
American athletic participation at the collegiate and professional levels. He is also Vice-President for Research and
Content Development at Alpha Zenith Media Corporation.
From 1983 to 1987, and 1992 to 1993, he was the chief researcher for Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. He organized, collected, and
prepared all of the material in the reference section for the three-volume series A HARD ROAD TO GLORY: A HISTORY
OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATHLETE. He handled all correspondence with every major college and university in the
United States, as well as historically black colleges and universities; every professional franchise in the National Football
League, National Basketball Association, and the National and American Leagues of organized baseball. Harris prepared
the encyclopedia format for this series of books that were published in November 1988 by Amistad Press/Warner Books.
Ashe said Harris “almost single-handedly constructed the reference sections” of the highly-acclaimed series. After Arthur
Ashe died in February 1993, Harris updated the second edition and edited the five paperbacks (Football, Basketball,
Baseball, Track and Field, and Boxing) published by Amistad Press in 1993.
Francis C. Harris studied as an undergraduate at Howard University and he earned a Master’s
in Management degree at Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts in August 1992. His
thesis was a study of the cable television industry. He is a member of the Society of American
Baseball Research (SABR). In 1998, he was a contributor of the essay “Paul Robeson: An
Athlete’s Legacy” for the book entitled PAUL ROBESON: ARTIST AND CITIZEN (Jeffrey C.
Stewart, Editor) published by Rutgers University Press. The book was the companion to the
touring photo exhibition of 1998, the centenary of Robeson’s early life and his athletic career.
Charles F. Harris, Jr. is co-author and chief researcher of The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete
series. He studied as an undergraduate at Howard University. Later he received an Associate Degree in Hotel
Management and Hospitality. From 1992 until 1996, he was a marketing and publicity assistant for Amistad Press, Inc.
In that capacity he arranged media interviews for authors, coordinated and supervised convention exhibitions, served as
a liaison between Amistad Press, Inc. and its distributors. From 1996 to 2000, he served as Executive Assistant to the
President of Amistad Press, Inc. His responsibilities included preparing financial reports for the accountants, coordinating
meetings with shareholders and potential investors, banking functions and accounts receivables and payables. Charles
F. Harris, Jr. has worked as a sales associate at Barneys in New York, Paul Smith, and Macy’s. He has experience in
inventory management. He is presently the Vice President of Marketing at Alpha Zenith Media Corporation.
Charles F. Harris, Sr. is a pioneering editor, book publishing executive, entrepreneur, and columnist with more than forty
years of experience in all phases of mainstream book publishing.
From 1986 to 1999, Harris, Sr. founded and served as chief executive officer of Amistad Press, the first New York-based
large-scale independent book publisher dedicated to expanding the audience for African American writers. The publisher
was originally capitalized by Essence Communications Inc and Time Warner and later sold to HarperCollins, a unit of
News Corporation, one of the largest communications companies in the world.
While at Amistad Harris, Sr. shepherded through the publications of such prestigious titles as A Hard Road to Glory
by Arthur Ashe (5 vols.); In the Spirit by Susan Taylor; Succeeding Against The Odds by John H. Johnson; Dorothy
Dandridge by Donald Bogle; Nouvelle Soul by Barbara Summers; Skin Deep: Inside The World of Black Models in
America and Abroad by Barbara Summers. Amistad Literary Series (6 vols.) ed. by Henry Louis Gates and K. A. Appiah;
Chesapeake Song by Brenda Richardson; Love Lessons by Dr. Brenda Wade; and Essence Magazine Cookbook by Jonell Nash.
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 6
7. In 1971 Harris Sr. founded and became the first Executive Director of Howard University Press in Washington, DC. HU
Press published many of this country’s leading scholars and intellectuals. Harris Sr. was responsible for the management
of all aspects of this press until 1986 when he left to form Amistad Press Inc.
From 1999 to 2002, Harris, Sr. served as Vice President and Executive Editor, HarperCollins and Editorial Director,
Amistad Press. In that capacity he acquired and edited original manuscripts for publication as hardcover books for adult
trade market, focusing primarily on African American authors and themes. He also acquired rights to and edited previously
published works and reprinted them as paperbacks for the general popular audience. Harris, Sr., also authored a monthly
column on BET.com, the largest Black Internet portal. He is presently the President and CEO of Alpha Zenith Media
Corporation.
MARKETING STRATEGY GAME PLAN
The project needs maximum distribution and exploitation because it has many diversified audiences regarding age, race,
gender, institutional, and geographic. Through the distribution channel of the publisher, multimedia approach including
museums, televisions, and lecture series this project will generate multimillions for many years to come.
Alpha Zenith Television Productions LLC plans to produce six one hour episodes based on the books. For the purpose of
airing, we will approach commercial networks first. If unsuccessful we will attempt to sell the program to PBS Network. We
will sell derivatives from the documentary such as CDs and DVDs.
More than 20 publishers rejected Susan Taylor’s (former editor-in-chief of Essence Magazine) work In the Spirit because
they thought it would not sell more than 15,000. Charles F. Harris, Sr. published this work in hardcover at Amistad
Press, Inc. and sold 160,000 copies. He sold the paperback rights in an auction for $300,000. These are just a few
instances of the estimations and sales performances of large publishing companies releasing titles on African- American
subjects and his experiences as a publisher of similar content. This is due to a difference in evaluating the interests of
different aspects of the marketplace. As a publisher, Charles F. Harris, Sr. has used the same traditional publicity and
promotional approaches as other publishers. The difference is he has conducted intensive publicity and promotional
campaigns to media with their main audience being African-Americans, and organizations whose memberships are mainly
African-Americans. He aims at media organizations such as BET & BET.com, Radio One and TV One, NNPA (National
Newspaper Publisher Association), Ebony.com and Jet.com, Essence.com, and fraternities and sororities such as Alpha
Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and other
organizations such as the NAACP, National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, Rev. Jesse Jackson’s PUSH, and
Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. All of these organizations will embrace the content of The Pictorial History
of the African-American Athlete with great desire and intense interest. The general public does not know of the historical
athletic achievements of African-Americans. While African-Americans themselves may know some of these achievements,
they have not seen them presented in the multifaceted, systematic, and coordinated manner that we are doing in our
works.
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 7
8. Our marketing and sales campaigns will have very large direct mail campaigns to libraries-university, public, high school.
Also major sales for the paperback editions will be to university and high school students. We will create teachers
manuals and other teacher aids to make the books more suitable for formal instruction This will be a more profitable
sales activity because we will not have to give as large a discount as in the trade sales and there will not be great returns
possibilities.
The special sales we have projected will be to universities featured in the volumes and to sports teams and consumer
products companies. These works will be developed at the request of the purchaser and will, in many respects, be similar
to print on demand. The point is to sell the concept to a university or company and these will create the specific demand
by others. There are more than 150 colleges and universities in the volumes. We are projecting selling this concept to only
half of them.
ONGOING PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
In addition, below is a list of key tactical marketing strategies either already in place on an ongoing basis or ready to
implement by the book’s release:
ACTIVITY TIMING APPROACH OUTCOME
Pre-order email blast
campaign to “friendly”
databases.
As soon as book is
available on Amazon and
Barnes and Noble.
Create a special CD or
other gift to incentivize
people to pre-order the
book in advance of release.
Enhanced pre-sells from
the database to drive early
interest in the book.
Organic media. Four months out from
release date.
Begin long lead media
and generate more buzz
and excitement around the
book. Procuring print media
to have stories released
in conjunction with the
book, and begin TV and
radio interviews creating
excitement.
Create mega buzz, more
in-store book orders,
and drum up speaking
opportunities.
Internet marketing. 4-6 months prior to release. Engaging in search engine
optimization and social
media activities to drive
traffic.
More traffic and exposure
to the brand/book.
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 8
9. ACTIVITY TIMING APPROACH OUTCOME
In store engagement. After release of book. Encourage database and
following to purchase
book at Barnes and Noble
stores to help increase in-
store orders and improve
placement.
Demonstrate in-store
success and create
excitement for stores
wanting to have signings.
Blogger Marketing. 4 months out from release. Develop relationships with
key bloggers.
Create viral excitement
about the book.
Signings. 30 days out from release. Begin scheduling in-store
signings at Barnes and
Noble and key independent
book stores.
Create in-person
engagement and raving
fans.
Ongoing Speaking
Engagements & Signings.
30 days out from release. Begin scheduling in-store
signings at Barnes and
Noble and key independent
book stores.
Create in-person
engagement and raving
fans.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
In 1988, the company that Charles F. Harris, Sr., owned at that time, Amistad Press Inc., published the pioneering and
classic work A Hard Road To Glory: A History of the African- American Athlete (3 volumes) by Arthur R. Ashe. This was
done through a joint venture with Warner Books, a subsidiary of Warner Communications, before the merger of Time and
Warner. Sales for two of the three volumes were above 35,000 at a retail price of $39.95 and one volume was $34.95 and
sold about 32,000. This third volume covered the period from the late 19th Century until 1918.
There were five paperback editions of this work and they were published in the early 1990’s. They covered the five
major sports--baseball, football, basketball, boxing, and track and field. Each volume was priced at $19.95 and had an
introduction by a well-known personality of that sport. The average sales per volume were approximately 30,000. It must
be remembered that these works received extensive publicity and reviews. A key factor was the content of individual
achievements and success. The individuals who are written about have family and friends, and they were connected to
academic institutions and/or well-known teams that have significant followings.
This will be an even greater phenomenon with The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete because the audience
is significantly larger (more people have attended and graduated from the educational institutions) and that audience has
more disposable income. There are greater capacities to reach potential purchasers via the Internet and the exposure
given the project by the production of a television documentary by a major network or an independent company. All major
sports media are aware of and have great respect and admiration for A Hard Road to Glory. We will be able to capitalize
on this since Francis Harris was the chief researcher for that work and his father was the publisher. Arthur Ashe gave
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 9
10. major notice to Francis for his contributions to that work.
The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete will have greater audiences outside the traditional retail book
buying trade outlets such as Barnes and Noble. The general sports fans and those interested in sports, as well as those
interested in African-American history are not major parts of the retail book trade. Consequently, information about
potential sales of African- American titles may not be as reliable predictions, as they are for general interest works. In the
case of A Hard Road to Glory, the projection was an average of 7,500 each in hardcover and perhaps 12,000 each in
paperback.
Other competitive titles that prove a strong marketplace for the book include the following:
THE BOOK OF BASKETBALL: The NBA According to The Sports Guy by Bill Simmons (ESPN, 2009) Bill Simmons, the
wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, has written
the definitive book on the past, present, and future of
the NBA. From the age-old question of who actually won
the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain
to the one about which team was truly the best of all
time, Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for
all—every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it
further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall
of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the
Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball.
Differences/Improvements: Both histories of a different sort, The Book of Basketball is a vibrant sports history
celebrating some 96 basketball players, while still lacking the depth, breadth and specificity of the four volumes of The
Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete.
FORTY MILLION DOLLAR SLAVES: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden (Broadway
Books, 2007) From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the
center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money,
fame, and achievement, says New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, black athletes still find themselves on the
periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built.
Differences/Improvements: Rather than editorialize the black athletic experience, The Pictorial History of the African-
American Athlete lets the athletes and, in particular, glorious photos of their finest achievements, speak for themselves.
THE REAL ALL AMERICANS: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation by Sally Jenkins (Anchor, 2007) If
you’d guess that Yale or Harvard ruled the college gridiron in 1911 and 1912, you’d be wrong. The most popular team
belonged to an institution called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Its story begins with Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt,
a fierce abolitionist who believed that Native Americans deserved a place in American society. In 1879, Pratt made a
treacherous journey to the Dakota Territory to recruit Carlisle’s first students. Years later, three students approached Pratt
with the notion of forming a football team. Pratt liked the idea, and in less than twenty years the Carlisle football team was
defeating their Ivy League opponents and in the process changing the way the game was played.
Differences/Improvements: Unlike The Real All Americans, which is a vibrant, narrative retelling of a single event in
Native-American history, The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete offers a wide ranging scope of hundreds of
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 10
11. African-American athletes, culled from the last century.
THE JOHN CARLOS STORY: The Sports Moment That Changed the World John Carlos and Dave Zirin (Haymarket
Books, 2013) Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympic podium
sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic images of Olympic
history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men behind the salute, lifelong activist
John Carlos.
Differences/Improvements: The John Carlos Story includes the experiences of one Olympian caught up in a history
moment, while The Pictorial History of the African-American Athlete, which extends through the last century, includes
dozens of African-American Olympians along with vibrant full color photographs.
VOLUME SUMMARIES
COLLEGIATE VOLUME ONE
In Collegiate Volume 1, the late 1800s to 1945, the reader will find the entire athletic history of thirty-one historically black
colleges and universities arranged in the order of the year each school was founded.
Following these schools, in alphabetical order, are thirty-five major colleges and universities. The criteria the authors
have selected are men and women athletes who were selected All Conference, All-American, and those athletes inducted
into school’s athletic hall of fame or who’ve had outstanding collegiate careers. Also included are athletic directors and
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 11
12. coaches. The first African-American to compete in any sport is the criteria used to categorize each college or university in
each volume.
COLLEGIATE VOLUME TWO
African-Americans began playing sports at major colleges and universities in the South and a majority of the schools
in the Southwest after 1946. The achievements of these athletes are documented in Collegiate Volume 2 (1946 to
the present). For example: Perry Wallace, who attended Pearl High School in Nashville, Tennessee, was the first
African-American to compete in basketball in the Southeastern Conference at Vanderbilt University from 1967 to 1970.
Vanderbilt University is found in Collegiate Volume 2 with the University of Alabama, University of Florida, Manhattan
College, University of North Carolina, St. John’s University, University of Texas, and 90 other colleges and universities in
alphabetical order. In-depth biographical and statistical information on each athlete makes these books compatible for CD-
ROM and the Internet.
PROFESSIONAL VOLUME ONE
The Professional Volume 3 documents the history of African-American participation in Baseball, Football, Basketball, and
Boxing. Baseball begins with the first African-Americans to play organized collegiate and professional baseball prior to
1915. The second part focuses on outstanding Negro League players and teams and includes detailed biographical and
statistical information. Negro League players who are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame are also featured.
The third part of this section profiles National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, and the final part of baseball profiles Major
League teams, the specific players in the history of each franchise and their statistics.
Football begins with the first African-Americans to play in the National Football League prior to 1934. Paul Robeson, Fritz
Pollard, Duke Slater, Sol Butler, and Joe Lillard are among them. The second part of this section profiles Pro Football Hall
of Fame inductees. The third part of football profiles National Football League teams and specific players in the history of
each franchise and their statistics.
Basketball begins with profiles of amateur teams in the early 1900s, and specific Black college and major college
basketball teams. The second portion contains in-depth biographies of the New York Renaissance, Washington (D.C.)
Bears, and the Harlem Globetrotters. The third portion of basketball profiles Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
inductees, and is followed by National Basketball Association players and their statistics. The section concludes with
Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA) players.
The Boxing section profiles the International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees with selected biographies and statistical
information. The second part of this section includes prominent prizefighters and trainers.
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 12
13. PROFESSIONAL VOLUME TWO
The Professional Volume 4 documents the history of African-American participation in Track and Field, the Olympic
Games, Tennis, Golf, Thoroughbred Racing, Cycling, Auto Racing, Gymnastics, and Volleyball.
Track and Field begins with biographies of National Track and Field Hall of Fame inductees (including Jesse Owens,
Alice Coachman, Eddie Tolan, Ralph Boston, Wilma Rudolph, Evelyn Ashford, and Willye White). The section continues
with features on other outstanding track and field athletes (including Charles Fonville, William Watson, Ed Duggar, Jimmy
Herbert, and Arnold Sowell). The section ends with profiles on well-known contributors to the sport of track and field.
The Olympic Games section contains African-American medalists and athletes who have competed in all Olympiads from
1904 to 2000 (in chronological order). The section begins with track and field and profiles of George Poage (1904), John
Baxter Taylor (1908), Howard Porter Drew (1912), William DeHart Hubbard (1924), Edward Gourdin (1924), and Edward
Gordon (1932). The section continues with profiles on Olympic track and field medalists who are not in the National Track
and Field Hall of Fame. The section continues with profiles on Olympic medalists in Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, and
Fencing.
Tennis begins with a history of the American Tennis Association (ATA), and profiles the early champions of the ATA (Tally
Holmes, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Ora Washington, and Jimmy McDaniel). The second portion of tennis profiles Althea Gibson,
Arthur Ashe, Leslie Allen, Zina Garrison, Venus and Serena Williams, and others.
The Golf section begins with a history of early African-American participation in the sport and forming of the United Golfers
Association (UGA). The section continues with profiles on Ted Rhodes, Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, and Tiger
Woods.
Thoroughbred Racing looks at the history of the sport when African-Americans were prominent as jockeys in the later part
of the 1800s. Isaac Murphy, Jimmy Winkfield, and Willie Simms are profiled in this section. Cycling includes a biography
of Major Taylor and a profile of Olympic medalist Nelson Vailes. Auto Racing includes a biography of Wendell Scott and a
profile of Willie T. Ribbs. Professional Volume 4 concludes with the sports of Gymnastics and Volleyball.
Contact information: Leticia Gomez | leticiagomez@ascendantgroupbranding.com 13
