March 11, 2021
8:00 p.m. Eastern
Live on Zoom
Watch the video of this event:
The House of David baseball team of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was known both for its accomplished level of play and for its players’ long beards, worn for religious reasons. They barnstormed around the continent in the early 20th century, at times playing with or against Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Grover Cleveland Alexander. In this presentation, a panel of historians tell their story and explain their significance.
Presenters
Don Gitersonke is author of Baseball’s Bearded Boys: A Historical Look at the Israelite House of David Baseball Club of Benton Harbor, Michigan. He self-published the book in 1996 as the first book-length study of the House of David team. The book was recently reprinted.
Chris Siriano is the founder and director of the House of David Museum and author of The House of David (Arcadia Publishing, 2007).
Phil Dixon is an esteemed Negro Leagues historian who has written numerous books, most recently The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour: Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). He was a co-founder and first public relations officer of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
We thoroughly enjoyed the live zoom of the Bearded Boys – House of David.
Is there an available link to a recording of that session? I’d love to share it with family members.
Our father, Stanley Dumovich, played on Lou Murphy’s House of David team during the summer of 1951. It was a summer that he spoke of frequently, right up to his last days (he passes just last January). In fact, he chronicled virtually every day of that summer including how Lou Murphy initially recruited him after a game in which House of David was their opponent. Our mom still has the original document which she typed back in 1952. Stanley lived a wonderful 88 years full of accomplishments both on and off the baseball field.
http://sabrsouthernmi.org/event-info/baseballs-bearded-boys-remembering-the-house-of-david-baseball-club-of-benton-harbor/