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photo by: Josie Burkhart

Former Pittsburgh Pirates player Al Oliver attends a ceremony honoring Sol White, a historically significant Black baseball player from Bellaire, to talk about WhiteÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s significance and his admiration for all that White did.

BELLAIRE — The Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society and visitors commemorated the legacy of Sol White by unveiling a new historical marker in Bellaire.

The society placed White’s marker in Union Park because the park had been used to play baseball for many years.

“It’s important that this marker be here, because this is where the school children learned to play baseball,” Dan Frizzi, society trustee, said.

Frizzi said for a time in the past, Bellaire Village Council prohibited the game of baseball in the park because it was used so much for the game. Eventually, though, council lifted that restriction. He also said it requires a lot of research to file an application for a historical marker with the Ohio History Connection.

“Sometimes when you research an individual, you feel as though you get to know them fairly well,” he said. “That may not be true, but in this particular case, the many news articles and stories that I read about Sol White … I found that when Sol White played for all of the teams that Leslie Heaphy talked about, with the exception of the Philadelphia Giants Team, when the playing season ended, Sol would return to his hometown Bellaire, Ohio.”

King Solomon White was born in 1868 in Bellaire and joined the Bellaire Globes semi-professional baseball team in 1884. He also played for a Wheeling professional baseball team for a year.

White played on teams including the colored club of Pittsburgh, the Cuban Giants of New York, the York Colored Monarchs, the New York Gorhams and other teams. White went on to become a captain and player for the Philadelphia Giants colored baseball club, Frizzi said.

After years with the Philadelphia Giants, White became the manager of many Black baseball teams, coached baseball throughout Ohio and wrote news articles and sports columns.

Despite his success, White was not able to join Major League Baseball because of the color barrier that restricted African Americans from playing beginning in 1888. He was forced to play on all Black teams when the color barrier began.

White was also an educated man, attending primary schools in Bellaire and Wilberforce University. This led him to write the first definitive history of the Black baseball player in America with his work “Sol White’s History of Colored Baseball.”

White is significant to the Village of Bellaire because he played on integrated local teams prior to the color barrier, Frizzi said.

After White died in 1955, he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 for his accomplishments on pro-negro leagues from 1887-1912 and negro leagues from 1920-1926.

Frizzi said he asked the question “Why did Sol White return to his hometown of Bellaire throughout his life?”

“For most to return to the place they were born,” he said, “it’s because of their fondness of youth and the memories that it stirred. For Sol, I think it was more. I think Sol returned because he held dear those memories of playing on a great Globe baseball team as an equal, where it was the color of his uniform and his talent on the ball diamond that endeared him to local folks.”

The commemoration Friday began with the Bellaire High School Marching Band performing the national anthem.

Belmont County Tourism Executive Director Jackee Pugh said any time the county can recognize historical figures who helped form local communities, it’s important to memorialize it with a plaque that allows people today, people who knew the individual and future generations to know and understand the important role they honoree played in the area and also in the nation.

“Bellaire is a community that has more historical markers in Belmont County than any others,” she said. “I think by adding this new one here in Union Square Park, I think it just goes to show the importance that this community really had in the county. Adding another marker and showing that historical significance is just incredible for the whole community.”

The society honored White’s legacy by inviting guest speakers to the celebration, including Ohio History Connection Chief Development Officer Ann Ruege, Karen Lucas of the Lucas Fund, Kent State University baseball historian Leslie Heaphy, and 1969 Bellaire baseball coach and former Pittsburgh Pirates player Al Oliver.

Ruege said Ohio History Connection’s mission is to spark the discovery of Ohio’s stories, embrace the past, share the present and transform the future.

“It’s the kind of program that allows local communities to identify, honor and commemorate the important people, places and events that have contributed to their past,” she said, “and to share those stories in a visible and lasting way.”

The Lucas Fund paid for the historical marker. Lucas described how the funding of the marker came to be. She said she and her husband, before he died, created a fund because of his long investment with Ohio History Connection. Since he was not able to be involved in it, Lucas took over by selecting markers she would be able to pay for with the fund they created.

Lucas said she and her son read through the applications for this initial year, and her son thought this marker was a great opportunity.

“Mom, besides Bob’s love of you, the other two things he loved nearly as much were Belmont County, and he was a local boy, particularly Bellaire and baseball,” she said, recalling her son’s words to her. “He reminded me of all the baseball games he took me to. So, I think this is just perfect.”

Oliver said when he looked back at all that White did, from being a player and coach to a manager and writer, he did it all. He said he made the trip to Bellaire to speak of White, and that it was an honor to do so.

Oliver admired how White was not hateful or angry despite the racism he went through but instead stayed with what he wanted to do.

After guest speakers took their turns discussing the significance of the historical marker’s placement, the society revealed the new marker that had been covered by cloth before the event.

The marker reads: “King Solomon ‘Sol’ White, was born in Bellaire on June 12, 1868. A baseball legend, he was an all-around player, manager and organizer in the Pre-Negro Leagues (1887-1912) and the Negro Leagues (1920-1926).” That passage is followed by a brief history and White’s story.

“I wouldn’t miss this for nothing in the world,” Oliver said. “So, to Sol, although you’re not here, you’re here in soul, and thank you for all that you have done down through the years.”