Let Them Play! : The 1955 Cannon Street All-Stars
In the summer of 1955, all but one of the 61 chartered Little League programs in South
Carolina was made up entirely of white players. The lone exception--the Cannon Street
Y.M.C.A. Little League (Charleston, S.C.)--was established two years earlier and became the first
and only African American Little League in South Carolina sanctioned by Little League
Baseball, Incorporated. The league was comprised of four teams sponsored by black businesses and
civic organizations and sustained by the passionate support of parents and other local
citizens. After the first half of the season was complete, Cannon Street Y.M.C.A. President
Robert F. Morrison and the league's four coaches selected an "All-Star" team to represent
the league in Charleston's traditionally "whites only" Little League tournament with the
dream of earning a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
Carolina was made up entirely of white players. The lone exception--the Cannon Street
Y.M.C.A. Little League (Charleston, S.C.)--was established two years earlier and became the first
and only African American Little League in South Carolina sanctioned by Little League
Baseball, Incorporated. The league was comprised of four teams sponsored by black businesses and
civic organizations and sustained by the passionate support of parents and other local
citizens. After the first half of the season was complete, Cannon Street Y.M.C.A. President
Robert F. Morrison and the league's four coaches selected an "All-Star" team to represent
the league in Charleston's traditionally "whites only" Little League tournament with the
dream of earning a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
Rather than integrate, city officials canceled the event. Winners by default, the All-Stars prepared to compete in
the South Carolina state tournament. In a show of "massive resistance," white Little League officials, coaches a
and parents gradually organized a mass boycott. As a result, the Cannon Street All-Stars became the unofficial
state champions. To its credit, Little League Baseball refused white South Carolinians' request to host a s
segregated tournament to determine a representative for regional play. However, they held firm to a rule
prohibiting teams from playing for the World Series title after advancing by forfeit.
the South Carolina state tournament. In a show of "massive resistance," white Little League officials, coaches a
and parents gradually organized a mass boycott. As a result, the Cannon Street All-Stars became the unofficial
state champions. To its credit, Little League Baseball refused white South Carolinians' request to host a s
segregated tournament to determine a representative for regional play. However, they held firm to a rule
prohibiting teams from playing for the World Series title after advancing by forfeit.
In a letter to Morrison, Little League President Peter J. McGovern expressed regret that the All-Stars were
"innocent victims of alien influences that have deprived them of beneficial associations and opportunity to meet
and know other boys in Little League Baseball" and invited the team to attend the Little League World Series as
his guests. Parents and community leaders raised funds for the trip. Civil rights activist Esau Jenkins provided
transportation.
While in attendance, the All-Stars were granted a practice session prior to the championship game. The All-
Stars' enthusiasm and skill inspired chants of "Let them play!" from the awestruck crowd. Despite pleas from
Morrison and his fellow coaches, it was not to be. The team's effort to integrate youth baseball inspired white
teams from several southern states to secede from Little League and form a segregated organization known as
"Little Boys Baseball, Inc." Today, Little Boys is known as Dixie Youth Baseball. Over the past decades, the
Cannon Street All-Stars have grown into upstanding family men and good citizens. In 2002, the team returned
to Williamsport and was officially named "1955 South Carolina State Champions."