1st African American Baseball card?

[Exhibitman]

Thought these might be of historical interest, though neither is African-American (Jackson was West Indian/Australian, Godfrey Canadian), as they are very early depictions of black athletes:

[Fred]

Should the question really be - Who is the first black player to be depicted on a "baseball" card that was widely distributed as a major issue?

The Old Judge book mentions Treadway. The next issue I'm aware of is Zeenut (1916 Claxton). Prior to Treadway the Claxton card seemed to be the widely accepted "first black player" depicted in a major issue. The price of the Claxton reflects that it is a very special card.

By the way Kevin, who wrote that beautiful Treadway biography for "The Book"? That is an interesting piece of information that most people don't realize because they haven't read all of the biographies. There's just so much that people don't realize about "The Book".

[Northviewcats]

I've always been interested in the story of Moses Fleetwood Walker. Some historians say he was the first Black to play in the major league in 1884. I've seen his photograph, is there a card or postcard that features Walker that could be considered a baseball card?

[talkinbaseball]

the Claxton card is on e-bay right now as a buy it now or best offer.
-john-

[Fred]

That Claxton has been up there for a while now. At $5K I think most people will pass on it in that condition. Perhaps the seller should send it to a 3rd party grader (SGC, Beckett or PSA). That might actually help the cause in selling the card.

[byrone]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Thought these might be of historical interest, though neither is African-American (Jackson was West Indian/Australian, Godfrey Canadian), as they are very early depictions of black athletes:

George Godfrey was from my hometown, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I always thought it was interesting trivia that he was the first black man to appear on a card.