Cumberland Posey
| Cumberland Posey | |||
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| Outfielder/Manager/Owner | |||
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Born: June 20, 1890 Homestead, Pennsylvania |
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Died: March 28, 1946 (aged 55) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
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| Member of the National | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Inducted | 2006 | ||
| Election Method | Committee on African-American Baseball | ||
| Personal information | |
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| Born |
October 25, 1890 Homestead, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 28, 1946 (aged 55) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Homestead High School |
| College |
Penn State (1909-11) Duquesne (1916-18) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
Cumberland Willis "Cum" Posey, Jr. (June 20, 1890 – March 28, 1946) was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a star professional basketball player and team owner.
Cumberland Jr. was born into Western Pennsylvania's Negro elite, the son of Cumberland Willis Posey Sr. and Angelina "Anna" Stevens Posey of Homestead, adjacent to Pittsburgh. Posey senior worked on riverboats and became in 1877 probably the first African American licensed engineer in the United States, then earned the chief engineer license and title Captain. "Cap" Posey was a riverboat builder, general manager of the Dexter Coal Company, owner of the Diamond Coke and Coal Company, and industrial partner of Henry Clay Frick. He was president of the Loendi Social and Literary Club for three years and president of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper for its first fourteen years, to 1924.(Williams) The family lived in a palatial Italianate mansion on the heights.
Despite his commanding wealth Captain Posey still had to deal with racial discrimination, according to historian William Serrin. In that crucible of race his son began to excel as a young athlete.
In football, Cumberland Jr. was a star player and manager for semi-pro sandlot teams in the Pittsburgh area prior to 1910, including the Delaney Rifles and the Collins Tigers.
Posey was the best African American basketball player of his time, playing from the early 1900s (decade) through the mid-1920s. His peers and the sporting press considered him an "All-Time Immortal". "The mystic wand of Posey ruled basketball with as much eclat as 'Rasputin' dominated the Queen of all the Russias", observed the Harlem Interstate Tattler in 1929.
Posey led Homestead High to the 1908 city championship, played basketball at Penn State for two years, moved to the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a pharmacy degree in 1915, and formed the famous Monticello Athletic Association team that won the Colored Basketball World’s Championship in 1912. He later played varsity basketball for Duquesne University, under the name "Charles Cumbert", and led the Dukes in scoring for three seasons through 1919. Today he is enshrined in the Duquesne Sports Hall of Fame under his real name.
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Wikipedia