College Honors Mohawk Colored Giants Baseball Team During Historical Marker Unveiling on Campus

In 1913, there were many white baseball teams in the Capital Region, but there was only one Black professional baseball team in the area: the Mohawk Colored Giants of Schenectady.  Their home stadium was located at Island Park, now the site of part of the SUNY Schenectady campus. To honor the Mohawk Giants, a dedication ceremony and unveiling of a historical marker was held today on the grounds where the stadium once stood.

Donated by the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), the new marker describes the impact that the Mohawk Giants had on baseball in Schenectady and in the Capital Region as an independent professional baseball team, highlighting one exciting game in particular. 

During the ceremony, Josh Rawitch, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., addressed the crowd of baseball fans, historians, members of the College community, and local leaders.

“The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is committed to telling a more complete story of the history of Black baseball, as it impacts us all,” he said. “We were very proud to recently open The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball as a way to accomplish that goal and any opportunity we have to share what we have learned with others is valuable. It was a pleasure to visit SUNY Schenectady and I hope that many baseball fans from the area will pay a visit to Cooperstown in the future to learn more about this important subject.”

Francis Harte, M.D., who is a member of SABR and recipient of the SABR Local Grant to establish the Island Park Stadium Historical Marker, contacted SUNY Schenectady last spring to donate the marker to the College.

The Schenectady County Public Library gifted a copy of the book The Mohawk Colored Giants of Schenectady by Frank Keetz to the Begley Library at SUNY Schenectady. Bill Buell, Schenectady County Historian, gifted the Begley Library with original copies of the Schenectady Gazette from 1913 and provided other historical information to assist with planning the event.

Chris Leonard, Schenectady City Historian, described the legacy of the Mohawk Giants in Schenectady and in baseball history during his remarks at the ceremony.

“For a city that never had an MLB team, Schenectady has a rich baseball history,” Leonard said. “Foremost among such teams are the two incarnations of the Schenectady Mohawk Giants, from 1913-1915 and 1928-1943. The original team was the first Negro League team to play in Schenectady, and it succeeded with great players including Frank Wickware, ‘Smokey Joe’ Williams, and ‘Home Run’ Johnson. The later version, which was far more successful, included Buck Ewing, called the ‘Black Babe Ruth’ by Grover Cleveland Alexander; home run threat Alex Crumby; and Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Durant. All of these players would be publicly known and lauded if Major League Baseball integrated earlier.”

Dr. Steady Moono, President of SUNY Schenectady, encouraged community members to visit the site of the former stadium to view the new Mohawk Giants marker, located near the Schenectady County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park on the College campus.

“History is woven through the fabric of Schenectady and our campus,” Dr. Moono shared. “It is important that we honor this history and recognize the Mohawk Colored Giants and the contributions that the team made to Schenectady as an independent professional baseball team. That history is preserved in the photos of thousands of people watching the team play at Island Park, now a beautiful part of our campus. We invite the community to visit the new historical marker and learn more about the Mohawk Giants, Schenectady’s hometown team that is part of baseball history.”   

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed traditional ball park fare prepared by talented students and faculty chefs, and served from our College Food Truck.