On January 7, , the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team travels 48 miles west from Chicago to play their first game in Hinckley, Illinois. The Globetrotters were the creation of Abe Saperstein of Chicago, who took over coaching duties for a team of African American players originally known as the Savoy Big Five after the famous Chicago ballroom where they played their early games.
The Globetrotters won out of games that first season and introduced many Midwestern audiences to a game they had not seen played before. As owner, coach, manager, publicist and sometimes even substitute player, Saperstein worked overtime to book games for his team. Their first national championship appearance came in , when the Globetrotters lost to the New York Renaissance. That same year, the team began to add the silly antics they later became known for, including ball handling tricks and on-court comedic routines.
The crowds loved it, and Saperstein told his team to keep up the clowning around, but only when they had achieved a solid lead. By this time, the Globetrotters were actively touring on the international circuit, playing to audiences in post-war Berlin, Eastern Europe and Russia, among other places; they even performed once for Pope Pius XII in Rome.
Reaching the height of their fame in the s, the Globetrotters began to lose fans during the next decade, after the departure of such longtime stars as Meadowlark Lemmon. In , Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard became the first female Globetrotter. Over the years, the Harlem Globetrotters have played in more than countries in front of million fans. They have been the subject of two feature films and numerous television shows, including two animated series in the s.
In honor of their entertainment value, the team was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and made the subject of a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute.
Their pioneering history and considerable athletic skill over the years was honored in , when they were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Some say the team was doing poorly and asked him to coach.
Others say they needed a white man to book games around the Midwest. In any case, Saperstein likely joined them in late , the group now ready to hit the road and try to make a living as barnstorming basketball pros. On January 7, , Saperstein and his team piled into Abe's jalopy. They were ready for their first road trip. For their first game they drove 50 miles west to the small town of Hinckley, Illinois, and took on the Hinckley Merchants team.
Most written histories about the Globetrotters claim that Saperstein's team won that first game. But that's not how former Hinckley resident Marvel Loring remembers it.
She was at that first game. It was much more than they would make most nights, often satisfied if they could afford a sandwich on the way to the next town. The team would play anywhere it could find a willing opponent and a paying crowd; not an easy combination to put together in those days.
They took a new name, the "Savoy Big Five. Stars including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington graced the stage. Club management hired the basketball team as an added attraction.
In the spring of , after a dispute over money, Saperstein and some of the players left the Savoy and went back to barnstorming. Some of this jibes with the Globetrotters "official" history, some of it does not. We only revised their history when we were fairly certain we had information to directly contradict the "official" story. When we couldn't prove the story wrong, we went with the widely reported version. So in the end, does it really matter?
Is it important that scores of sources say that the Harlem Globetrotters started play in as the Savoy Big Five when, in fact, there was no "Savoy" until late ?
I guess that's up to the individual reader of history. For our program, I simply stumbled upon this information while looking for some newspaper articles about the Savoy Big Five.
At some point, either by mistake or for some other unknown reason, the story of the origins of the Harlem Globetrotters was told incorrectly.
Then it was repeated and repeated until, as the newspaperman in John Ford's classic western "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" said, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. He spent 8 years as a producer on the Chicago Tonight program, as well as 6 years producing Chicago Week in Review. In the meantime, he is back producing programs for Chicago Tonight. Search WTTW:. Chicago's Harlem Globetrotters Did you know that one of the most famous organizations in professional sports and entertainment, the Harlem Globetrotters, was a Chicago-born institution?
The great feeling of a gift that keeps giving. Much more! Learn more about membership! Explore Stories Saul Alinsky. Angels Too Soon. Boxing: Golden Gloves. Bronzeville: Remembering 47th Street. The Bungalow: Sweet Home Chicago. Daniel Hudson Burnham. Christmas Windows: Marshall Fields. Bessie Coleman: Pilot Pioneer. Daley, Richard J. The Eastland Disaster. Chicago's First Mexican Church. Those Films You Saw in School.
The Greeks in Chicago: Opa! Father Andrew Greeley. Chicago's Harlem Globetrotters. Arne Harris. Marshall Holleb. Chicago's Urban Indians. Overall, there have been 13 people with ties to the Harlem Globetrotters inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. On Oct. Today, the Globetrotters continue to bring their entertainment to millions of fans around the world with more than live events each year. Each Globetrotters game features some of the best athletes on the planet, unmatched fan interaction, incredible ball handling wizardly, rim-rattling dunks and side splitting comedy.
In all, close to men and women have played for the world famous team, a team which has entertained popes, kings, queens, and presidents around the globe. Home Our History.
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