Bizarre Moments for Media at Killers' Home

Columnist: Pull Honor for Baseball's Color-Line Architect

"His plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y., was in need of amendment, or editing, the moment it was unveiled at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939,"Kevin B. Blackistone wrote Wednesday for the Washington Post.

"To be sure, of the achievements it cited of Adrian Constantine Anson, better known as Cap — 'GREATEST HITTER AND GREATEST NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYER-MANAGER OF 19TH CENTURY . . . .300 CLASS HITTER 20 YEARS . . . '— it omitted his most remarkable.

"Cap Anson erected the color barrier in baseball.

"His effort to make baseball all white — which, disturbingly, didn't deter us from fondly calling it America's pastime — became the game's hallmark for more than half a century, 60 years.

"But there is no acknowledgement in Anson's hall of fame display of his role in spearheading racial segregation in baseball, which as this country's bellwether professional sport led our other professional team sports, including the NFL and NBA, as well as popular individual sports, most notably heavyweight boxing and golf, to shun athletes of color as well.

"Princeton University last month was forced to confront its historically sterilized celebration of one of its icons — its alumnus, former university president and 28th U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson. It hadn't adequately acknowledged his past as a maker of racist public policy that had a deleterious impact on countless black citizens.

"Well, Cap Anson is baseball's Woodrow Wilson problem. And the game ought to take a lead from Princeton on how to correct it. . . ."

• Karen Attiah, Washington Post: Woodrow Wilson and Cecil Rhodes must fall (Nov. 25)
  
  
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, the Atlantic: Woodrow Wilson and the Problem of Civic Plunder(Nov. 24)
  
  
• Laura Kebede, Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch: Support mounts for name change at Harry F. Byrd Middle School

Capturing the Spirit of the Johnson Publishing Co. Building

"Since February 2013, Barbara Karant has holed up for six hours at a time inside the former Chicago headquarters of the Johnson Publishing Company. Armed with lunch, lights, a tripod and her camera, she was there to photograph the building's abandoned interiors,"Maurice Berger wrote Friday for the New York Times "Lens" blog.

"The resulting series of images — '820 Ebony/Jet,' a reference to the company's most popular magazines as well as the building's street number on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Loop — uncannily embodies the spirit of the legendary African-American company that occupied the building for 40 years. . . ."

Berger also wrote, referring to company founder John H. Johnson and building architect John Moutoussamy, "Ultimately, the Johnson Publishing Company building was a daring social statement, a monument to the ingenuity and determination of Mr. Johnson and the people his publications represented. It was also an important showcase for black cultural expression, from Mr. Moutoussamy's vibrant architecture to the corporate collection of African and African-American artists displayed throughout its offices. . . ."