Hidden Crowns of Cowtown: Three Negro League Legends from Fort Worth, Texas. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

 



Hidden Crowns of Cowtown: Three Negro League Legends from Fort Worth, Texas. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., Publisher, Black Texans, Inc.

As America commemorates 250 years of independence, Black Texans, Inc. proudly dedicates this special edition to illuminating the enduring contributions of the Black community — stories too often overlooked, yet undeniably foundational to the American narrative.


This season of reflection calls us not only to celebrate liberty, but to examine legacy.


In this edition, we uncover the Hidden Crowns of Cowtown — the powerful yet often forgotten legacy of three Negro League baseball players and leaders from Fort Worth, Texas. Though their names may not appear in every textbook, they remain permanently etched in the vaults of baseball history.


Their stories deserve daylight.


And we are bringing them back to life.






Crowns Hidden in Plain Sight



Fort Worth — known for cattle drives, railroads, and oil fields — also produced baseball brilliance during one of the most segregated eras in American history. While Major League Baseball remained closed to Black athletes, Negro League teams built their own institutions of excellence, discipline, and entrepreneurship.


From Panther City emerged three men whose talent, leadership, and perseverance shaped the game:


  • Louis “Big Bertha” Santop
  • L.D. “Goo Goo” Livingston
  • Eddie Douglass



They were not merely players.

They were pioneers.

They were pathfinders.

They were consummate professionals in a system designed to exclude them.






Excellence in the Face of Exclusion: https://blacktexans.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-diamond-badge-and-flag-honoring.html



The Negro Leagues were more than a sports enterprise — they were a cultural movement. Teams traveled from city to city, often facing hostile crowds, inferior accommodations, and grueling schedules. Yet they performed with precision, pride, and purpose.


These Fort Worth sons carried more than bats and gloves. They carried:


  • Community representation
  • Economic self-determination
  • Athletic innovation
  • Racial dignity



Their games were not merely contests. They were declarations.


Every swing declared: We belong.

Every double play proclaimed: We are excellent.

Every victory affirmed: We endure.






Why This Moment Matters

https://blacktexans.blogspot.com/2026/02/digging-for-dignity-at-new-trinity_9.html



As America reflects on 250 years, we must ask: whose stories are being told?


Freedom was not experienced equally in 1776.

Citizenship was not granted equally in 1876.

Opportunity was not distributed equally in 1926.


Yet in every century, Black Texans built, served, excelled — and played.


The Hidden Crowns of Cowtown remind us that Fort Worth’s history is incomplete without acknowledging its Negro League heroes. These men did not wait for doors to open; they built new fields altogether.


They created opportunity where exclusion existed.

They modeled excellence where inequality prevailed.

They established legacy where history attempted silence.


Today, their stories call us to remembrance.






Bringing the Vault to Life



Black Texans, Inc. remains committed to restoring, preserving, and proclaiming narratives that history left in the shadows. Through storytelling, public commemoration, scholarship, and civic engagement, we are reclaiming these accounts as essential threads in the American tapestry.


The Hidden Crowns are no longer hidden.


They shine.


Because when we remember these men, we do more than recount statistics — we honor courage.

We affirm contribution.

We restore dignity.



Fort Worth’s Negro League legends are not footnotes.

They are foundational.


And in this 250th anniversary season, we proudly place their crowns where they belong — on the head of history.


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