>> 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