‘We broke the barrier’: Charles White III remembers trailblazing baseball in Chattanooga

More than a decade after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, Black and white ball players finally competed together in Chattanooga.

By Ian-Alijah Bey

A note from video editor Ian-Alijah Bey

A few months back, I stumbled upon a throwback Lookouts cap for sale online that I’d never seen before. I ordered the cap, a remake of a 1950s Lookouts hat with a “C” logo, but I didn't know the history behind the felt brim.

The week after, I ran into an old friend who complimented the hat, which had been worn by white players during segregation, and he asked if I’d ever heard of the Black Lookouts. I couldn’t hide the puzzled look on my face as he showed me a folder full of black and white images. The Black Lookouts. The Choo Choos. The Chattanooga Stars. To find out Chattanooga was home to so many Black baseball teams – I couldn't believe it.

As I dug more into the history of Black baseball, the name Charles White III kept coming up. White, the father of the late Reggie White, played baseball and softball in Chattanooga and around the country in the 1950s and 60s. With the help of The Bessie Smith Cultural Center, we tracked him down and went to visit him.

When we arrived at his home right outside of Nashville, White stood in the door frame with a smile as big as his hands. As we walked in, he introduced us to his wife, offered us sweet tea, and even showed us his pet goldfish. It felt like I was in the home of a family member. He led us to his den, a cozy room covered wall-to-wall in sports regalia, and pictures of his son, Reggie White. And before I could speak, White turned to me and said, “You look familiar. Who is your family?” After telling him my mother’s maiden name, his eyes lit up. After a couple of laughs, he says, “Your uncle was my second baseman. Did you know that?”

White told us story after story about the many teams he played for and how he helped shape the landscape for Black athletes in the 1950s. I learned so much about his contribution to baseball in Chattanooga but also discovered some of my own family history that had been lost over the years. Who would’ve thought a Lookouts cap would lead me to a local legend?

— Ian-Alijah Bey, ian-alijah@chattamatters.com