GOOD MORNING P.O.U.!
We continue our series on Early African American Basketball…
OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH COSMOPOLITANS
Chicago, Illinois
Olivet Baptist Church Cosmopolitans, one of the most accomplished African American women’s teams in Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s, playing both other churches and some of the top amateur women’s teams in the city. The earliest mention of the team dates back to 1921, when on March 25 they lost to the newly formed Roamer Girls, 26-22. A week later they played Trinity Church.
The Olivet Cosmopolitans most notable opponents were the Roamer Girls and the Jewish People’s Institute Girls. By 1924, the Olivet Girls featured one bona fide star, Captain Virginia Willis from Crane Junior College, but the team was still not competitive with such teams as the Roamers, who beat them 11-4 that year.
By the winter of 1927, the Olivet Cosmopolitans had a super team. Willis was supported with a better cast, namely Irmah Mohr (who came from the Roamers), Helen Thomas, the Griffin sisters (Ida Mae and Helen), Blanche Skinner, and a player only known as Johnson. That year, the Cosmopolitans swamped an Evanston team 16-0 and a St. Elizabeth team 22-12; and beat the WIlson Girls, 11-7; the Metropolitan Community Church Girls, 8-2; and a white team called the Pirates, 19-9. At the end of the season they were hailed as Bronzeville’s champions. They still were not competitive with the Jewish People’s Institute (JPI), however, losing to them 15-10. That year there was also a younger version of the team, called the Olivet Guild Girls, composed of players under the age of 18.
In early 1929, the Olivet team became the beneficiary of getting almost the entire Savoy Colts team. The Savoy Colts had been formed in November of 1928 to play as the sister team to the Savoy Big Five at the Savoy Ballroom, 47th and South Parkway. It was a powerful team, but it did not last. And from the Colts, the Cosmopolitans not only got the return of their great star, Virginia Willis, but also the tennis great Ora Mae Washington, Howard University star Blanche Wilson, and the two Williams sisters. With this completely new lineup, the Olivet team in late March was able to beat one of the big three white teams in the city, the JPI team, 20-13. The team also won the ABC championship, an annual tournament of African American men’s and women’s teams held on the South Side. The Defender reported that they had not lost a game all season.
The Olivet Girls–now without the services of Washington who had moved back East–repeated as the ABC champion in 1930. Olivet also competed in the newly formed Union Church League, and greatly reduced its competition with secular amateur teams in the city. The Olivet Girls won the first two Union Church League championships, in 1930 and 1931.
THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE GIRLS
Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Tribune Girls were an African American women’s basketball team in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1930 to 1942. They were sometimes called “the Newsgirls,” as they were sponsored by the Philadelphia Tribune, the city’s most influential black newspaper.
They were rarely beaten, taking on African American high school, college and club teams and occasionally white women’s teams. They were declared national black women’s champions most years of their existence. One of their biggest stars was Ora Mae Washington, considered by some to be the greatest female athlete of her time and by all knowledgeable observers as the greatest African American female athlete of her day.
(SOURCE: Hoopedia)