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Title
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[African American basketball team]
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Description
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This photograph is a group portrait depicting members of an African American basketball team with their coach, likely in Philadelphia, taken in or around 1920.
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Three players sit on wooden chairs, the middle one with a basketball on his lap. Behind them, the coach and three more players stand and look at the viewer. The athletes are attired in uniforms consisting of a sleeveless shirt with a logo on the front, shorts, knee-length socks, and shoes. The logo is of the number 5, with a lightning bolt crossed through it. Posters for good health and African American participation in athletics hang on the walls, possibly of a Boys' Club or YMCA.
Although this exact team is unknown, the history behind African American basketball teams from 1904 to the 1940s– the period known as the Black Fives Era– is rich (Black Fives Foundation, n.d.). Basketball was invented in 1891 (Black Fives Foundation, n.d.). The sport was racially segregated, and all African American teams were known as Black Fives, until the sport was integrated by the National Basketball League in the 1940s, and later the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1950 (Black Fives Foundation, n.d.). The number refers to the five starting players in a game (Adeniji 2021).
The back of this photographed is imprinted with the name Dan E. Paul. Daniel Evans Paul (1868-1932) was a commercial photographer in Philadelphia (Ancestry.com).
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Discover more about the Black Fives Era
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Contributor
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Library Company of Philadelphia
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Date Created
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1920
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Creator
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Paul, Dan E.
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Rights
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This work is believed to be in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States. For more information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/
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Identifier
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P.9273.6
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Language
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eng
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Format
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Image
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Extent
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1 image
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Spatial Coverage
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Philadelphia, PA
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Publisher
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The Library Company of Philadelphia
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Is Part Of
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African American History Photographs
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Subject
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African American basketball players
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African American basketball coaches
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Basketball
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Sports photography
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Bibliographic Citation
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Black Fives Foundation. “The Black Fives Era In Perspective.” https://www.blackfives.org/about/.
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Adeniji, Ade D. “There Were the Negro Leagues, and Then There Were the Black Fives.” CBS News, April 26, 2021. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-fives-basketball/.
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The Library Company of Philadelphia. “[African American Basketball Team] [Graphic] / Dan E. Paul, Commercial Photography, Bell Phone, 2225 N. 2nd St. Phila., PA.” 2022.
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Ancestry.com. “Dan E Paul in the Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1972.” 2014.
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Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia. Deaths. May 15, 1920.
[African American basketball team].jp2 
