Legendary Photographer Spotlights Negro League Baseball's Golden Years
Charles "Teenie" Harris snapped Jackie Robinson and more.
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game - For 40 years, legendary photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris chronicled the essence of daily African-American life for one of America's oldest Black newspapers. An exhibit spotlighting his photos of the vibrant world of Negro League baseball recently opened at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art. Keep reading for a closer look. — Patrice Peck(Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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Teenie's Life - Born in 1908 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Harris (pictured) bought his first camera in the early 1930s before opening a photography studio. He then went on to freelance for the D.C.-based magazine Flash before settling at the Pittsburgh Courier from 1936 to 1975.(Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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A Brief Baseball Stint - Harris had also played shortstop for the Negro League's Crawford Colored Giants, a Pittsburgh team that he helped start, but soon replaced his bat for his camera. The collection currently on display highlights the golden age of Negro League baseball with images of Jackie Robinson (pictured) and beyond.(Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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Family Ties - "It wasn't just famous people. It was ordinary people, women," Sean Gibson (pictured) told AP, referring to the exhibit's focus. The great-grandson of Negro League slugger Josh Gibson, who was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame even though he never played in the major leagues, Sean served as guest curator.(Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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A Wide-Range of Shots - The exhibit includes a wide range of photographs, including pictures of Jackie Robinson talking with baseball executive Branch Rickey (top), as well as shots documenting the desegregation of local sandlot teams, like Pittsburgh's Terrace Village baseball, the first integrated team in the area. (Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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An Extraordinary Photographer - Harris photographed people of all races. Here, Louise Lippincott, head of the Harris archive at the museum, holds Harris's photograph of Dominican player Horacio Martinez. "Teenie was an extraordinary documentary photographer with a great artistic eye," Lippincott told AP.(Photo: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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