For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.
A deep archive of early African American basketball.
The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.
But this is more than an archive.
It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.
Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.
For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.
Build with us.
blackfives.org/build
#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty
Most historians write books and publish research. Claude Johnson goes further.
Over more than two decades, independent historian Claude Johnson, working entirely on his own, has uncovered the forgotten history of early African American basketball teams known as the Black Fives, built the world’s largest archive of artifacts from this era, established the Black Fives Foundation, and secured trademarks for the original team names and logos to create and protect the Black Fives brand.
His work is more than scholarship.
It is cultural stewardship.
#blackfives #basketball #blackhistory #hiddenhistory #basketballhistory
Remember that Jackie Robinson was far better at BASKETBALL than baseball. 🏀🤯
Happy Jackie Robinson Day! ⚾️🙌🏽
That's right, Jackie Robinson played with a pro basketball team called the Los Angeles Red Devils. And he was about to keep playing on the hardwood when Branch Rickey convinced him to play on the diamond. Previously he had led the Pacific Coast Conference (eventually the Pac-12) in scoring, two years in a row while at UCLA.
In this segment from 2019, Claude Johnson appears on NBA-TV with other guests to describe Robinson's basketball career.
Learn more: BlackFives.org/jackie-robinson-pro-basketball-star
#basketball #blackhistory #blackfives #makehistorynow #jackierobinson
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.
Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.
This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.
On the front, you see something beautiful.
On the back, you see the work.
Tens of thousands of stitches.
Each one holding the whole together.
Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.
Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.
The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.
And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.
Do we really want to remove certain stitches?
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?
Do we value the work we don’t see?
Do we recognize it?
Do we protect it?
That’s the real story.
A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.
Build with us.
Make History Now.
#culturalheritage
#intellectualproperty
#archives
#sportsbusiness
#blackhistory
@pettwaymaryann
Women of the Black Fives Era, 1904-1950.
Long before today’s leagues, African American women were already playing, organizing, and helping shape the game.
For this Women’s History Month, we honor the players and teams whose pioneering efforts deserve to be seen, remembered, and celebrated.
Make History Now.
#blackfives #womenshistorymonth #basketball #blackhistory #hiddenhistory
Most historians write books and publish research.
Over more than two decades, independent historian Claude Johnson has gone further. Entirely on his own, he has uncovered the forgotten history of early African American basketball teams known as the Black Fives, built the world’s largest archive of artifacts from this era, established the Black Fives Foundation, and secured trademarks for the original team names and logos to create and protect the Black Fives brand.
His work is more than scholarship.
It is cultural stewardship.
#BlackFives #basketball #blackhistory #hiddenhistory #basketballhistory
Five pioneers of early Black women’s basketball 🏀✨
Edith Trice, Eva Miller, Dora Cole, Kate Bard and Helen “Streamline” Smith were among the trailblazing athletes who helped build the foundation of women’s basketball beginning in the early 1900s. From the Younger Set Club in Harlem to the New York Girls and Chicago’s Roamer Girls, these players competed, organized teams, and drew crowds at a time when opportunities for women—especially Black women—in sports were extremely limited. Their talent, leadership, and determination helped push the game forward and opened doors for generations of women athletes who followed.
#BlackHistory #Basketball #WomensSports #WomenHistoryMonth #BlackFives
Black women were playing basketball long before today’s leagues.
As early as the 1910s, African American women’s teams were organizing, competing, and building the game. Their contributions are rarely told in the history of basketball.
The Black Fives x Women’s History Month Collection honors that legacy.
Now available in pink, plum, and black.
Shop the collection.
Link in bio.
Make History Now.
#blackfives #womenshistorymonth #blackhistory #basketball #women
Women of the Black Fives Era. Unknown and undocumented yet their spirit lives today.
African American women’s basketball teams helped expand the game during its formative decades. But many teams were never fully documented. These are some images from our Black Fives Archives that capture the spirit even if the details are lost to history.
Learn more at BlackFives.org
#blackfives #basketball #history #womenshistorymonth #blackhistory
The plum colorway from the Black Fives Women’s History Month Collection.
Featuring the Black Fives women’s logo across new styles.
Available now:
shop.blackfives.org/collections/womens-history-month
#blackfives #womenshistorymonth #women #basketball #blackhistory
Women of the Black Fives Era. The Roamer Girls were organized in Chicago in 1921 and played at the Eighth Regiment Armory in Bronzeville, featuring standout players like Helen Smith and Kate Bard. In the late 1920s, several Roamer Girls stars later joined the Savoy Colts, a women’s team connected to the Savoy Ballroom basketball program. By the early 1930s, the Club Store Co-Eds emerged in Chicago and became the first of traveling women’s teams in the country. Make History Now.
