List of sports desegregation firsts

This is a list of sports desegregation firsts. Within each section, the entries are in chronological order by achievement.

Major League Baseball

• 1871: Steve Bellán (1849–1932), first Latin American, depending on whether or not the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players is considered a major league
• 1879: William Edward White (1860–1937), believed to be the first African American to play in the major leagues, appearing in one game on June 21, 1879. White passed as white.
• 1884: Moses Fleetwood Walker (1856–1924), first openly African-American player
• 1887: Jim Toy (1858–1919), another possible, disputed candidate for first Native American player
• 1897: Louis Sockalexis (1871–1913), a member of the Penobscot tribe, often considered the first player of Native American ancestry
• 1902: Lou Castro (1876–1941), the first Latin American, if not Bellán
• 1921: Moses J. Yellow Horse (1898–1964), first full-blooded Native American player, from the Pawnee tribe
• 1947: Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era
• 1947: Larry Doby (1923–2003), second African American to break the color barrier, first in the American League
• 1964: Masanori Murakami (born 1944), first Japanese player

National Football League

Note: NFL.com, the official site of the league, recognizes players of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1921, as members of the NFL.

Players

• 1920: Fritz Pollard (1894–1986), one of the first two African-American players; also the first (co-)head coach (see below)
• 1920: Bobby Marshall (1880–1958), one of the first two African-American players
• 1927: Lou Molinet (1904–1976), first Hispanic, Cuban and Latin American player
• 1927: Sneeze Achiu (1902–1989), first player of East Asian descent

Other

• 1921: Fritz Pollard: first (co-)head coach, of the Akron Pros of the APFA ^[1]
• 1965: Burl Toler (1928–2009), first African-American official ^[2]
• 1988: Johnny Grier (1947–2022), first African-American referee ^[2]

National Basketball Association

• 1947: Wat Misaka (1923–2019), first non-white player and first of Asian descent
• 1950: Nat Clifton (1922–1990), Chuck Cooper (1926–1984) and Earl Lloyd (1928–2015), the first African Americans in the NBA, with Lloyd being the first to play in a game, preceding Cooper by one day and Clifton by four

National Hockey League

• 1926: Taffy Abel (1900–1964), first Indigenous American (Ojibwe) player in the NHL
• 1948: Larry Kwong (1923–2018), first player of Asian descent
• 1958: Willie O'Ree (born 1935), first black player
• 1991: Bill Guerin (born 1970), first player of Hispanic descent

Boxing

• 1902: Joe Gans (1874–1910), first African-American world champion boxer
• 1907: Jack Johnson (1878–1946), first African-American world heavyweight champion

Tennis

• 1945, 1958: Bob Ryland (1920–2020), first African American to compete in the NCAA National Championships and first professional player
• 1950: Althea Gibson (1927–2003), first African American to play in the United States National Championships (now the US Open) and first to win a Grand Slam title
• 1963: Arthur Ashe (1943–1993), first African American selected to the United States Davis Cup team

Golf

• 1963: Sewsunker Sewgolum (1928–1978), first person of color to win a provincial open in South Africa, the Natal Open
• 1964: Althea Gibson (1927–2003), first African American to join the LPGA tour

Association football

• 1881: Andrew Watson (1856–1921), considered the first black person to play association football at the international level
• 1889: Arthur Wharton (1865–1930), widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world

Rugby union

• 1871: James Robertson (c. 1854–1900), Scottish rugby union player reputed to be the first black rugby union player in the world

Cycling

• 1897: Major Taylor (1878–1932), A member of the integrated Boston Pursuit cycling team, first African-American world champion in any sport (1899).

References

1. "Pollard was first black head coach in NFL history". ESPN. Associated Press. 4 August 2005.
2. "Johnny Grier, first Black referee in NFL history, passes away at age of 74". NFL.com. 9 March 2022.