Oscar McKinley Charleston
Born: October 14, 1896, Indianapolis, IN
Died: October 6, 1954, Philadelphia, PA

Oscar McKinley Charleston is considered one of the greatest baseball players ever. He had many roles throughout his long baseball career, including player, umpire, manager and scout. On January 28, 1932, Charleston became the player-manager for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He helped recruit Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige to join the team. The following year, Cool Papa Bell and Judy Johnson joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1935, the team won the Negro National League's first-half championship, then went on to the defeat the second-half champion New York Cubans in a challenging, seven-game championship. Years later in 1954, Charleston would go on to manage the Indianapolis Clowns to a Negro American League championship. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

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.