Lawrence Eugene Doby
Born: December 13, 1923, Camden, SC
Died: June 18, 2003, Montclair, NJ

Lawrence Eugene Doby began his baseball career with the Newark Eagles. He left sports to serve in the United States Navy during World War II. When he returned to civilian life, he led the Newark Eagles to the Negro Leagues championship in 1946. In 1947, the Cleveland Indians signed Larry Doby. Just three months earlier Jackie Robinson had joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. By joining these major league teams, both Doby and Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for years. In 1978, Doby became the manager of the Chicago White Sox, making him the second black manager in major league history. Doby was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

Sources: The Society for American Baseball Research, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball, Encyclopedia Britannica, National Public Radio, and the Library of Congress were the primary research sources for the biographical information contained in this exhibition label.