>> LITTLE ABE SAPPER STEIN
FOUNDER OF THE HARLEM
GLOBETROTTERS WAS A GIANT IN
CHICAGO SPORTS HISTORY BUT IT
DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY A NORTHWEST
HIGH SCHOOL THAT HE DID NOT
ATTEND NAMED AN AUDITORIUM AFTER
HIM.
GEOFFREY BAER IS HERE IN
TONIGHT'S "ASK GEOFFREY".
>> GOOD TO SEE YOU.
THE FIRST QUESTION...
>> WELL, I NEVER HEARD OF THIS
SO I WAS EXCITED THAT OUR VIEWER
ALLOWED US TO BORROW THE PROGRAM
AND PERUSING IT YOU CAN SEE THAT
IT'S THE PLAYERS HAVE JAPANESE
NAMES.
AND BY THE WAY, THE OTHER GAME
ON THAT DOUBLE BILL WAS THE
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS AND WE WILL
TALK ABOUT THAT LATER ON IN THE
SEGMENT.
BUT FIRST, THE CHICAGO HUSKIES
SO THEY WERE ONE OF 25 TEENAGE
BASKETBALL TEAMS OF SECOND
GENERATION OF JAPANESE-AMERICANS
WHO PLAYED IN THE CHICAGO
ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION BASKETBALL
LEAGUE IN THE 40s AND 50s.
THE LEAGUE WAS FORMED BY A GROUP
OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS
TO HELP OTHER JAPANESE-AMERICANS
WHO RELOCATED TO CHICAGO WHEN
THE FORCED INTERNE.
ENDED AFTER WORLD WAR II.
AFTER THE BOMBING OF PEARL
HARBOR ROOSEVELT SENT
JAPANESE-AMERICANS TO INTERNMENT
CAMPS ON THE WEST COAST AND WE
LOOK AT THIS AS A SHAMEFUL
CHAPTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
AND AFTER THE WAR MANY RETURNED
TO THEIR HOMES TO FIND THEM
APPROPRIATED, FORECLOSED ON OR
VANDALIZED.
>> HOW DID THE GROUP OF PEOPLE
COME TO SETTLE IN CHICAGO?
>> SO THE GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGED
INTERNIES TO RESETTLE AWAY FROM
THE WEST COAST WHERE DENSE
JAPANESE COMMUNITIES FORMED
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THAT
STAYING IN THOSE COMMUNITIES
KEPT THE JAPANESE-AMERICANS FROM
BASICALLY ASSIMILATING INTO
AMERICAN CULTURE.
THE GOVERNMENT HAD RELOCATION
OFFICES IN CITIES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY AND THEY PROMOTED
CHICAGO FOR THE ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITIES AND RELATIVE
TOLERANCE TOWARD ASIAN
AMERICANS.
20,000 FORMER INTERNEES MOVED TO
CHICAGO IN THE 40s AND MANY
LANDED IN THE LAKEVIEW
NEIGHBORHOOD ON CHICAGO'S NORTH
SIDE.
THEY OPENED BUSINESSES THERE.
A SMALL GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS IN
CHICAGO CREATED THE CHICAGO
RESETTLERS COMMITTEE TO HELP THE
FAMILIES WITH SERVICES LIKE JOB
PLACEMENT AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE
AND THEN THEY HELPED THEM
ACCLIMATE BY CREATING THE
CHICAGO THIS SIAL LET PARTICULAR
SPORTS TEAMS WHICH INCLUDED
BASEBALL, TRACK AND BOWLING AND
THE BASKETBALL AND THE HUSKIES
WERE A GOOD TEAM THEY WON THE
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE
FIRST FIVE YEARS RUNNING.
>> A LOT OF THE FAMILIES SETTLED
IN THE LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD.
WHY IS THERE NOT A
JAPANESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
THERE TODAY?
>> NOT A LARGE ONE.
THE JAPANESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE CITY
AND THE SUBURBS AND THAT IS WHY
THE LEAGUE DISBANDED IN THE
1960s.
THE RESETTLERS COMMITTEE BECAME
THE JAPANESE-AMERICAN SERVICE
COMMITTEE WHICH EXISTS TODAY AND
THEY HELPED US WITH THE ANSWER
TO THIS QUESTION.
AND THERE IS ONE VERY VISIBLE
REMINDER OF THE FORMER JAPANESE
COMMUNITY IN LAKEVIEW.
IT'S THE NISI LOUNGE ON
SHEFFIELD.
THE PRESENT NON-JAPANESE OWNERS
AND SOURCES SAY IT WAS FOUNDED
IN THAT POST-WAR ERA BY
JAPANESE-AMERICANS AS A PLACE
FOR NISI TO GATHER.
>> VERY INTERESTING.
AND TO THE SECOND QUESTION...
>> AND ACTUALLY WE NOTICED THAT
RIGHT HERE ON OUR SET WE HAVE A
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS BASKETBALL
OVER MY SHOULDER.
YOU ARE RIGHT.
SAPPERSTEIN'S ALMA MATER WAS
LAKEVIEW EAST OF CALVIN PARK,
SAPPERSTEIN HAD A FONDNESS AND
CONNECTION TO CALVIN PARK.
HIS GLOBETROTTERS PLAYED ANNUAL
BENEFITS THERE WITH PROCEEDS
GOING TO THE SCHOOL AND THE
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AND
BASKETBALL COACH WAS THE HEAD
COACH --
THE HEAD SCOUT FOR THE HARLEM
GLOBETROTTERS.
WE DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS BECAUSE
OF THE RELATIONSHIP OR LED TO
THE RELATIONSHIP.
AFTER ABE'S DEATH IN 1966 HIS
WIFE DONATED MONEY TO THE SCHOOL
TO RENOVATE THE AUDITORIUM AS A
MEMORIAL TO ABE TO HER HUSBAND.
AND HE WAS EULOGIZED AT THE
DEDICATION.
>> ABE SOUND LIKE QUITE A GUY.
>> HE WAS.
FOR A JEWISH IMMIGRANT 5'3",
THERE HE IS, HE CAST A LONG
SHADOW IN SPORTS HISTORY.
HIS FAMILY MOVED TO CHICAGO FROM
LONDON IN 1907 WHEN ABE WAS FIVE
YEARS OLD.
HE WAS GOOD ATHLETE BUT HE DID
REALIZE THAT A GUY HIS SIZE
WASN'T GOING TO GO FAR PLAYING
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.
SO HE MADE SPORTS HIS BUSINESS
INSTEAD.
AND HE WORKED FOR THE CHICAGO
PARKS AS AN ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
AND COACHED YOUNG
AFRICAN-AMERICAN BASKETBALL
PLAYERS AT A JEWISH YOUTH CENTER
ON MAXWELL STREET.
IN 1927 ABE STARTED COACHING
FIVE FORMER BASKETBALL PLAYERS
FROM WENDELL PHILLIPS HIGH
SCHOOL.
AND HE BOOKED THEM IN GAMES
UNDER THE NAME OF THE BIG 5
AFTER THE BALLROOM WHERE THEY
FIRST PLAYED.
THE TEAM LEFT THE SAFE VOI AFTER
MONEY DISPUTES AND SAPPERSTEIN
REBRANDED THEM THE
GLOBETROTTERS.
>> WHERE DID HARLEM COME FROM.
>> HARLEM, NEW YORK, NOT THE
CHICAGO WAS THE CENTER OF
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE AND HE
USE TO DO TO PROMOTE THE FACT
THAT THIS WAS AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN TEAM IN AN ERA
WHEN SPORTS WERE NOT INTEGRATED.
IT WAS A NOVELTY TO HAVE THIS
AFRICAN-AMERICAN BASKETBALL TEAM
AND NOW THE GLOBETROTTERS ARE AN
ENTERTAINMENT TROOPE FAMOUS FOR
THEIR STYLE AND TRICK PLAYS BUT
FOR DECADES THEY WERE A SERIOUS
TEAM AND THEY DOMINATED THEIR
COMPETITION.
>> AND BEFORE WE GO ON ONE LAST
THING ABOUT CALVIN PARK THERE IS
A WTTW CONNECTION THAT ERIKA
DISCOVERED.
IN 1979 WTTW AIRED A DOCUMENTARY
MADE BY CALVIN PARK STUDENTS
CALLED AS WE SEE IT.
IT WAS PRODUCED AS A MOCK NEWS
BROADCAST AND TOOK ON SENSITIVE
ISSUES ABOUT THE IMPACT OF
INTEGRATION AS THE SCHOOL WAS
CHANGING FROM MAJORITY WHITE TO
MAJORITY LATINX AND YOU CAN
WATCH THAT WE HAVE THAT ON OUR
WEBSITE.
>> THANK YOU.
>> AND YOU CAN DRIBBLE ON OVER
TO THE WEBSITE TO SEE THAT