Photography
Charles "Teenie" Harris, "Homestead Grays Baseball Team," ca. 1942, printed ca. 2000
- Item Number
- 51
- Estimated Value
- 2600 USD
- Opening Bid
- 1750 USD
Item Description
Charles "Teenie" Harris (American, 1908-1998)
Homestead Grays Baseball Team at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, ca. 1942, printed ca. 2000
Printer: Gus Kayafus, Palm Press Inc., Concord, MA
Gelatin silver print
Image: 11 x 14 inches
Charles "Teenie" Harris is the subject of a much-acclaimed retrospective that premiered at the Carnegie Museum of Art in October 2011 and will tour nationally.
The bulk of Harris’ photographic legacy originated in the 1930s through the 1970s, while he was working for The Pittsburgh Courier, a newspaper that serves the African-American community, not only in Pittsburgh but also nationwide.
Teenie Harris was also a gifted athlete. He played basketball for the Paramount A. C. and City Elks teams, and was a co-founder and shortstop of the Pittsburgh Crawfords sandlot baseball team. He played until the late 1920s, when Gus Greenlee acquired the team and turned it into a Negro League powerhouse.
The other Pittsburgh Negro League team was the Homestead Grays, one of baseball's greatest clubs and gate attractions, operating for thirty-eight seasons. In 1937 hitting catcher Josh Gibson returned to the Grays from the Crawfords and teamed with first baseman Buck Leonard to lead them to an unprecedented nine Negro League championships.
Dubbed the "Thunder Twins" and also called the black Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig by the media, both men are seen in this group portrait. Other future Hall of Famers pictured here are "Cool" Papa Bell (OF), Judy Johnson (3B), and Cuban great Martin Dihigo (2B, P, OF).
For other Teenie Harris photographs in the Auction, see items 50, 64, and 65.
All four images in the Auction have been published in one or all of the following monographs: Teenie Harris, Photographer: Image, Memory, History (Carnegie Museum of Art, 2011); One Shot Harris: The Photographs of Charles "Teenie" Harris (Abrams, 2002) and Spirit of a Community: The Photographs of Charles "Teenie" Harris (Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 2001).
Item Special Note
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Donated By:
Lionel Harris
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