A history of the Harlem Globetrotters…

March 25, 2010 by lightrail
Filed under: Target Center

The Harlem Globetrotters will be appearing at The Target Center on April 3, 2010. With that in mind I just want to give you a brief history of the Globetrotters.

The Harlem Globetrotters have been entertaining audiences all over the world for over 80 years, but who are they? What are they? Why are they so popular, having entertained people from U.S. Presidents to Pope John Paul II?

The Harlem Globetrotters were formed in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois by a man named Abe Silperstein and a group of basketball players that played at Wendell Phillips High School — he referred to his team as “Harlem”. Over the next two years, several players would leave the team and in 1928, Tommy Brookins got several of the players together and called them the “Globe Trotters”. By 1929, Silperstein referred to them as the “New York Harlem Globe Trotters”. He chose Harlem as their home team to add to the mystery and because Harlem was the in place for African-American culture. They would not play in Harlem until 1968, however.

The theme song, Sweet Georgia Brown, was a 1949 instrumental done by Brother Bones and His Shadows and has been used for the theme song since 1952.

Contrary to popular belief, the Harlem Globetrotters do not always focus on comedic plays and will only do so when they are comfortably in the lead. They were a serious team that brought forth many star players over the years, including Meadowlark Lemon, Wilt Chamberlain, Reese Tatum and Curly Neal. It was also believed that the Globetrotters helped break the color barrier in basketball as in 1950, the NBA drafted their first African-American player, Chuck Cooper.

Nearly all the players have been African-American, although Silperstein, who was white, would sometimes suit up for an injured player. In 1985, the Globetrotters first allowed women to play and in 1995, the first Hispanic player, Orlando Antigua, was made a player.

Some people have even been made honorary Globetrotters, including Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II and Whoopi Goldberg.

In conclusion, the Harlem Globetrotters have been entertaining audiences for four generations and as long as people like their basketball mixed in with some laughs, the Harlem Globetrotters are sure to be a hit!

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