Walter Fenner "Buck" Leonard
Born: September 8, 1907,Rocky Mount,NC
Died: November 17, 1997,Rocky Mount,NC

Walter Fenner “Buck” Leonard was a first baseman in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican League. Leonard’s parents nicknamed him Buddy, but his younger brother called him Bucky instead and that nickname stuck. Educational opportunities were limited for African-Americans when Leonard was growing up, and at age 16, he went to work for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. He continued to play baseball and joined the Baltimore Stars in 1933. The team went bankrupt, and Leonard played with the Brooklyn Royal Giants for the remainder of the season. In 1934, Leonard joined the Homestead Grays and would remain with the team until 1950. Leonard was an excellent ball player and has been compared to Lou Gehrig. As a member of the Homestead Grays team, Leonard played alongside Josh Gibson and they were called “The Thunder Twins”. The Grays won nine championships during Leonard’s tenure. In addition to Gibson, the Grays were also home to other notable players such as Cool Papa Bell and Jud Wilson. The team folded around 1951, and Leonard was offered an opportunity to sign with the major leagues, but he declined citing his age, as he was well into his forties when the offer materialized. At age 52, Leonard finally received his high school diploma. He was community leader and advocate for civil rights. Leonard’s birthplace is home to the Buck Leonard Association and there is also a park in Rocky Mount that bears his name. In 1972, Leonard was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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