Sam Lacy

ABOUT SAM LACY

Famous as the inaugural African-American member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, he had a nine-decade-long career as a sports journalist for the Washington Tribune, the Chicago Defender, and the Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL-TV.

Before beginning his career as a journalist, he earned an undergraduate degree in physical education from Howard University and played semi-professional baseball.

Throughout his career, he fought to give minority athletes equal opportunities and pay in the professional sports world.

He was raised in Connecticut and Washington, D.C. by a Native American mother and an African-American father. His first marriage, to Roberta Robinson, resulted in children named Samuel and Michaelyn; he later married Barbara Robinson.

In 1936, Lacy reported on the medals won by African-American runner Jesse Owens at that year's Summer Olympics (held in Berlin, Germany).