Jacob White Jr.

Jacob Clement White Jr.

• Born ~1837
• Died November 11, 1902

Biographical Information

Jacob White Jr.was an early black baseball pioneer.

White was born around 1837 and appears to have grown up in Jenkintown, PA. His father, Jacob Sr. was a prominent businessman in Philadelphia, PA and Jacob Jr. grew up in a wealthy household. The younger Jacob began his education at the Lombardy Street Public School where he learned grammar then moved on to the Institute for Colored Youth. In May of 1855, White addressed then-governor James Pollock at a reception for the school and read an essay he wrote about social issues and challenges the black community faced.

White was the only student in his class to graduate from the ICY in 1857 which seemed to gain him a lot of respect from those around him. In 1858 the ICY hired him as a math teacher. His popularity also gained him various jobs as an agent for multiple newspaper companies in the early 1860s. In 1861, he became a representative at the Haitian Bureau of Emigration, a program created to help free blacks move from the United States to Haiti.

In 1865, he and fellow civil rights activist Octavius Catto founded the Philadelphia Pythians. The two men attempted to get the team into the National Association of Base Ball Players but they were denied due to the club's players being black. In 1869 they apparently played the first integrated baseball game and had developed a good relationship with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Thomas Fitzgerald along with star player Hicks Hayhurst.

In 1864 White became the principal of the Roberts Vaux Consolidated School and helped move the school from a church basement to its own building and the attendance tripled as a result. White's efforts also inspired various other schools in Philadelphia to integrate over the years and he continued to do activism work until deciding to retire from teaching in 1896. He also worked for a hosptial in the 1890s and was able to gain funds for it from the State Senate. White remained a part of his position with them until his death in 1902.