There was Ray Herr of t. e Herr grocery firm, brother of Stan y Banyon, the long-time edi or and ..
Derf Merrill, illard J. Banyon,' Clarence Bro n - publi er of the Benton Har or e �II dium.
Bro n ICe and Coal, Reuben Durkee, John Lee, Harry H e ere schoo mate and teammates and
(Stub) Winters, "Dad" Haynes, Oair Bastar, son of Dr. there s no consciousness of ce, religion, or tion
Bastar; Herb Allen, Harry Plummer [captain] and Ben that divided our effections and our loyalties. Perhaps
Currev. _ at is hy I gre up ith no consc ou of co or or
, In later life th y became business men, fa vers of religious differences or of differences in station. To
an salesmen. this day I em honestly Qy that I ha e ne er n con-
The team played an eight-ga e schedule, piled scious of the color of complexion of other men, at least
up 90 points galnst opponents' 24, lost only one and no more conscious than I am of th co or of their �ir
came out ith a tie n another game. Their opponents or the color of their eyes. r. Spea er, I thin that '11
re iles, Bangor ( ice), South Ha en, Do agiac, be true of all Americans in a time not very far y.
St. Joseph, Plain ell, and B.H.H.s. alumni. The onl thing that counts in my QWl is his ch acter
r. O'Hara s Congressional talon integration d his orth. J
held up to his fe 10 members the Benton Harbor foot-e, "There is al ays distr ss in the tran ition frOm
b II team of 1899 as a prime example of integration. established s us quo. I suppose this could be
In his opening remarks he said: I called th pain of e olution. But al ays man is oin
.. r. Speaker, hanging on the wall of my office forward. AI avs he is reaching for a plane of content­
is a framed photograph of the 1899 football team of the ment and of dignit . He nvisions brotherhood on earth
) high school at Benton Harbor, ich. It was taken 64 as something ery close to his religious faith; a bro r­
years ago when most of my colleagues in this historic. hood of man under the fatherhood of the Creator of II.
Chamber ere yet unborn. • In recent ym th e ha e been great trends
"We ere photographed in three ro . I am in of population in Chic go and other northern cities. In a
the second-row and beside me is a schoolmate and a '. very large measure e in Chicago are meeting the
teammate, a egro. Behind me in the third ro is challenge of change, with isdom, understandin and
nother schoolmate and teammate, a egro. In the ith the cooper tion of peoples of I r us, all
the '"' photograph also among other are the son of the lead- religions, and all stations of life. e are or in to-
local ing physician in Benton Harbor at that time, the son of ther as teammates, I thin much in the spirit of th
ts. the w Ithiest m n in the to n, and iIIard Banyon, Benton Harbor high school footbalJ team of 1899.
,
EDITOR'S OTE: rren P. itchell, a local realtor
and mini ter, h s over the years collected articles and
picture of interest to the Benton Harbor community.
On a regular b is he ill be aring that collec-
tion ith The Citizen readers. Wh t folio is his first in,
th series.
B
mel') P. Mitchell
In t light of the ayor's recent comments I
h e chosen to share ith you an article that appeared in
the IOQI ne aper about fourteen years go.' ,
at is interestin is the tone of optimism and
the positive pproach hich ould be helpful for us all
to return to. I
The article quotes the comments of a then Chi­
cago Congressman, Barritt Q'Han, ho had,grown up
h re in Benton Harb . Here are excerpts:
·An 1899 Benton Harbor high school football
te m as the me of n integration talk in the Hou
of R presentative in W shington a fe days ago. '"
O'Hara, in hi tal, used a picture of the
64-year old local even to emph ize point. that
color as no issue or b r to football players on the team
of hich he as a member. �
might h ve id too th t do throu
e
ichigan
TH CITIIE
Pa 3
l ,
niE LOCAL FOOTBALL PICTURE eONGRESS HEARD ABOUT: This is the Benton Harbor high school football pictur that Congressman Sarratt O'Hara
held up s an example of racial integration in 1899. First row (left. to right) Bob Busby, H�rb Allen,'Capt. Harry Plummer, tiarry inters and Ben Currey; second
ro - Barratt Of ra, Reuben Durkee, John Lee, "Dad" Haynes and Clair Bastar; third row - Ray H rr, Fran Busby,Derf errill, iIIard J. Banyon, a renee
Bro n and Dr. . L. Burke. T e m on six games, tied one and ost one.
. /
... The Busby brothers of the 1899 team ere
fleet on foot, tough line-men and alternated as halfb cks ,
on occasion.
Th'e footb II field was at Eastman Springs, ith
the' bystanders standing up and moving long as, th
m progressed up and do n th field. ..
"The tackles in th t early period of football,
rites Hara, U ith spectacular but risky line hurdling;
long ince outla ed, ere used as ball carriers in many
form tion .
I "It as in 1899 that the girls in Benton Harbo
found d th 'Si rs of Football', attending all
n masse to ch r the team. . ..
O'Hara played tackle on this 1899 eleven, a
pngling youth of 15 ho had speed to spare. The pass­
ing game as unkno n in 1899 football, but if it h d
O'Hara: ould ha been a star plu .
This 1899 football team's members came from
Ion nown and prominent Benton Harbor famili .
• t
)