By Chuck Whiting
MCAU Editor
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (March 2016) -- Tennessee State University Associate Professor Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton has labored
for several years writing a new book celebrating her father, the late Negro
Baseball League star Henry Kimbro.
"Daddy's Scrapbook: Henry Kimbro of the
Negro Baseball League, A Daughter's Perspective" is filled with
personal observations, newspaper articles, and other items from Henry's glory
days as a player for the NBL's Baltimore
Elite Giants and Birmingham Black
Barons. Shortly before her death, Harriet's Cuban-born mother gave Harriet a
60-year-old scrapbook her father had assembled during his life.
"No
one in my family ever saw the scrapbook with the exception of my mother,"
Harriet said with a smile. "When she placed it in my hands, she told me to
do something with it. 'You know what to do,' she told me. The look she had on
her face at that time was, 'I trust you.'"
Harriet's
efforts to honor her father started in 2003 with a challenging but successful
campaign to have Henry inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Her book
recalls a legendary outfielder once dubbed the "Black Ty Cobb" of the
NBL. According to The New York Times,
Henry played mostly with the Baltimore Elite Giants, with other stints at the Washington Elite Giants, the New York Black Yankees, and the Birmingham Black Barons. He played briefly for
the Barons shortly before retiring in 1953. The Negro Leagues
were disbanded in the 1960s when African-American players began joining Major
League Baseball. Erbia C. Mendoza-Kimbro gave Harriet the scrapbook after Henry
died in 1999.
"Daddy's
Scrapbook", which retails for $14.95, is available at Amazon.com and other
major online retailers. For more
information about the book, call (615) 963-5581 or send an e-mail inquiry to
harrioo@hotmail.com.
To learn more about Henry Kimbro, visit http://www.Facebook.com/HenryKimbro.
"It
was a great joy to write this book because, through the process, I became good
friends with other Negro League heroes such as Butch McCord, Jim Zapp, Shannon
Jones, and Sydney Bunch, who knew and worked with my dad," Harriet
added. "My siblings also contributed. The toughest part of the book was
the chapter on my mom. I had a connection with her that most family members
were not aware of. This book has given me peace with my mother's wish."
Her
heartfelt family tribute includes insights on Henry's Nashville upbringing,
controversial off-the-field shenanigans, baseball stardom in Latin America,
marriage to Erbia, role as the father of five children, and induction into the
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
"My
favorite story was when my father gave me a left-handed glove," noted
Harriet, who wanted to show the humble side of a man who loved his wife and
children. "I don't think he knew what an impact he had on a little girl's
confidence, someone who loved learning how to play baseball alongside her
brother. I look back and see a man ahead of his time in terms of gender
equality, and I truly appreciate that."
The
professor also recounts other stories, both funny and sad, about her son's
temporary disappearance at a hotel before the 1993 Baseball All-Star Game and
her father's awkward courting of Erbia during visits to Cuba.
"During
their dates, he had to take her chaperones along with them and pay their
tabs," Harriet laughed. "He would always smile or laugh when telling
that story. He truly loved my mother."
Harriet
drew more quiet when talking emotionally about her mother, whose touching story
is recounted halfway through the book.
"My
mother was the foundation of our family," she said. "She was a very
loving, caring and supportive person to her children. I can't remember anytime
she wasn't there to see us participate, compete or complete an endeavor. For
me, my mother was my first teacher. I was also my father's child in many ways
because I inherited many of his ways both good and bad, but she made me more of
a lady, too."
Harriet
also uses the book to recognize some of the individuals who helped Henry Kimbro
succeed. She said her efforts to have her father posthumously inducted into the
Tennessee Sports Hall of fame would not have been possible without the lobbying
support of former Negro American League Manager Buck O'Neil, Canadian Major
League Baseball star Larry Walker, former Nashville Sounds owner Larry
Schmittou, and former Nashville Councilman Ronnie Greer.
"Daddy's
Scrapbook" includes a host of pictures, including Henry's baseball days,
family snapshots, and post-career activities in the latter part of his life.
The last photo of Henry on Page 125 shows him waving a baseball cap at fans
while being recognized at the 1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in
Baltimore.
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| Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton |
"Before
the game began, 24 surviving Negro League Baseball players were paraded onto
the field wearing replicas of their team uniforms," Harriet remembered.
"It was blistering that day, and I worried about the effects of the heat on those
guys. As each player was introduced, a giant picture of them was shown on the
scoreboard while the announcer described their accomplishments as a player. When
it was my father's time, he stood up straight with a huge grin and tilted his
Baltimore Elite Giants hat to the crowd. The crowd, I felt, gave him the
loudest response because he had played for Baltimore, and he relished this, his
finest hour."
Harriet
is an associate professor for Tennessee State University in Nashville. During
her athletic career, Hamilton served as head coach in various sports and
athletic director of Fisk University. She also has served as a professor for
Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The author also chaired the NCAA
Women's Basketball Championship Committee and served on the ABA-USA Committee
that selected the 1984 USA Olympic Gold Medal Women's Basketball Team. She has received
awards from the Women's Sports Foundation; the National Association of Girls
and Women in Sports (the Dr. Nell C. Jackson Award); Fisk University (Women of
Prominence Award); and the Temple University League for Entrepreneurial Women
(Hall of Fame inductee).
Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton is
available for speaking and book-signing appearances. For more information,
contact her at (615) 963-5581 or harrioo@hotmail.com.
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| Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton celebrates with Larry Walker, owner of the Old Negro League Baseball Shop in Nashville, during a recent book signing and NBL baseball memorabilia exhibition Tenn. (Photo by Chuck Whiting) |
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