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DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION/ ESSAY
This
task is based on the accompanying documents (1-6). Some of these
documents have been edited for the purposes of this task. This task is
designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you
analyze the documents, take into account both the source of each
document and the author’s point of view.
Directions:
Read the documents in
Part A and answer the questions after each document ( do not
simply repeat the
contents of the documents).
Then read the directions for Part B and write your essay.
Historical Context:
By the twentieth century, baseball
was a popular sport in Latin America, as well as the United States.
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In the United States,
professional baseball was segregated. Latin Americans and
African-Americans shared a common bond in baseball throughout the
early twentieth century. Talented Latin American and
African-American players, excluded from major league baseball in
the United States, often traveled and played together in both the
Negro Leagues and Latin American leagues of Mexico, Cuba, Puerto
Rico and the Dominican Republic. After Jackie Robinson broke the
color barrier in baseball in 1947, Latin Americans also
participated more widely in professional baseball in the United
States. These pioneers who had been mutually excluded, now faced
numerous challenges and obstacles to desegregating baseball. In
1973, one of those pioneers, Roberto Clemente, became the first
Latin American elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Task: Determine
the growing involvement and connection between professional
baseball in Latin America and the United States
Instructions & Directions
ã
New York State Education Department, GH-888-98, 1999.
Historical Context, Task, Document Selection, and Organization
ã
Douglas J. Kaufman, 2001
Historical Context background information from A Hard Road to
Glory: The African-American Athlete in Baseball by Arthur R.
Ashe, Jr., Amistad Press, Inc., 1988. |
Part A:
Short Answer
Directions: Analyze
the documents and answer the questions that follow each document in the
space provided.
Document
1
1.
One of the first African-American professional teams is pictured
above. What early connection to Latin America is evident from this
photograph?
From the collection of
The National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Question,
Douglas J. Kaufman, 2001.
Document 2
2. What does this baseball
program from the Cuban Cienfuegos suggest about the ethnicity of some
Latin American teams?
From the collection of
The National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Question, Douglas
J. Kaufman, 2001.
Document 3
3.
What does this baseball card of Negro Leaguer James “Cool Papa”
Bell, seem to indicate about some African-Americans in Latin America?
From the collection of The
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Question ã
Douglas J. Kaufman, 2001.
Document 4
“After the various
experiences he had last year with ‘Southern Hospitality,’ Branch
Rickey has decided on Havana, Cuba, as a 1947 training site for the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Last year the ‘Bums,’ (nickname for the Dodgers)
and their minor league cousins, the Montreal Royals, trained at
Daytona Beach. Because Jackie Robinson . . . (was) on the Montreal
roster, it was necessary for Rickey to cancel a number of games in
Florida, when politicians in Jacksonville, Sanford, and Deland raised
the old color issue and refused to let Montreal play with Robinson . .
. on the team. This type of bigotry raised Rickey’s ire and he vowed
at the end of Spring training that he’d ignore Florida in ’47.
As a result, the
Dodgers will train in Cuba next year. Jackie Robinson will go to the
beloved ‘Bums’ to the island of senors and senoritas and train under
much more favorable conditions. Certainly, he won’t have to tolerate
a lot of the abuses he experienced last year. . .”
- Wendell Smith,
The Pittsburgh Courier. September 28, 1946
4. Considering the
experiences of African-Americans like Jackie Robinson, why would Latin
America be an appealing place to play baseball in the mid-twentieth
century?
5. How did Cuba help
desegregate major league baseball in the United States?
Excerpted from the
Pittsburgh Courier, The Sports Beat by Wendell Smith,
September 28, 1946.
From the collection of The
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Questions ã
Douglas J. Kaufman, 2001.
Document 5
“The biggest
misunderstanding with Clemente was not that he was black, but that he
was a Latin. We didn’t understand Latins. Latins are a very proud
people. . . He had pride in everything he did. . .
If someone told him
‘You are one of the greatest ballplayers,’ Roberto would smile and
say, ‘Thank you,’ and then tell why he thought he was. He didn’t
understand that wasn’t the way ballplayers in this country would
handle it. In the United States, if a guy gives you a compliment, you
play the humility game. . .
Clemente came up at a
different time. In my first and second years with the Pirates, I
remember that black players couldn’t even stay at the Chase Hotel with
the rest of the team when we played St. Louis. It was that time. It
was a white man’s game. . . ”
- Nellie King, Broadcaster for
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“He had a great sense
of humor. The guy was as funny as any comedian in Hollywood. He was
very leery of the media. He was misquoted a lot of times and they
made fun of the way he spoke. They made him sound like one of those
Indians in the movies. This was a proud man, and this really got to
him. He had fierce pride. He was proud of being Puerto Rican. He
was proud that he served in the military service here. He was proud
that he was in the Marine Corps. . .”
- Tony Bartirome, Pittsburgh
Pirates trainer.
6.
Cite two distinct ways in which Roberto Clemente’s cultural and/
or ethnic background influenced his adjustment to major league baseball?
Excerpted from
Remembering Roberto: Clemente Recalled by Teammates, Family, Friends and
Fans.
Ó Jim O’Brien. Geyer
Printing Company, Inc. 1994.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Question, Douglas
J. Kaufman, 2001.
Document 6
“Clemente was having
a party there and he asked everyone on the club to come to his party.
Whoever wanted to come was welcome. I went with Bob Skinner and
Johnny Powers. Now Powers was from Alabama, and he didn’t much care
for blacks. He used to say, ‘Everytime you see one you ought to shoot
‘em.’ Yet he went to the party. But we were the only white players
who went to Clemente’s party. . .
- Ronnie Kline,
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher.
“I didn’t have much experience playing with black ballplayers,
on any level. I’d come to the team in 1954, the same year as Curt
Roberts, the first black to play for the Pirates. . .
He kept a lot of
stuff to himself. What he did off the field, and for people, you
didn’t hear much about because he didn’t broadcast it. That was him.
He did a lot for his home people. . . When he first came up, (joining
the Pirates in 1955) he wasn’t the Clemente of later years . . . At
first, Clemente was tough to get to know. He became more comfortable
later on. It wasn’t just a matter of language. . .
- Bob Purkey,
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher.
7.
What adjustment did Roberto Clemente make to play major league
baseball in the United States?
8.
What similarities were there in the major league baseball
experiences of Jackie Robinson and
Roberto Clemente?
Excerpted from
Remembering Roberto: Clemente Recalled by Teammates, Family, Friends and
Fans.
Ó Jim O’Brien.
Geyer Printing Company,
Inc. 1994.
Task, Historical Context, Document Selection, Questions, Douglas
J. Kaufman, 2001.
Part B
Essay
Directions:
·
Write a
well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs,
and a conclusion.
·
Use evidence from the
documents to support your response.
·
Do not simply repeat
the contents of the documents.
·
Include specific
related outside information.
Historical Context:
By the twentieth century,
baseball was a popular sport in Latin America, as well as the United
States.
In the United States, professional
baseball was segregated. Latin Americans and African-Americans shared a
common bond in baseball throughout the early twentieth century.
Talented Latin American and African-American players, excluded from
major league baseball in the United States, often traveled and played
together in both the Negro Leagues and Latin American leagues of Mexico,
Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. After Jackie Robinson
broke the color barrier in baseball in 1947, Latin Americans also
participated more widely in professional baseball in the United
States. These pioneers who had been mutually excluded, now faced
numerous challenges and obstacles to desegregating baseball. In 1973,
one
of those pioneers, Roberto Clemente,
became the first Latin American elected to the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Task:
Using information from the documents provided and your knowledge of
United States history, write an essay that describes the influence of
Latin America on professional baseball in the United States.
Be sure to include specific
historical details. You must also include additional information from
your knowledge of United States history.
Instructions & Directions
ã
New York State Education Department, GH-888-98, 1999.
Historical Context, Task, Document Selection, and Organization, Douglas
J. Kaufman, 2001.
Historical Context background information from A Hard Road to Glory:
The African-American Athlete in Baseball by Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.,
Amistad Press, Inc., 1988.
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