Originally published on Pittsburgh Post Gazette – July 7, 2023
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, local history teacher Vince Ciaramella would walk through local cemeteries in the Pittsburgh region.
He came across the unmarked graves of nine baseball players who were in the Negro Leagues. Mr. Ciaramella — author of “Greats in the Graveyard,” a book highlighting former baseball players buried throughout Allegheny County -—decided to do some research.
Not only did he find dozens of more professional ball players buried throughout the county’s cemeteries, he found the final resting place for well over a dozen Negro Leaguers: including Ernest Gooden, a former infielder who played for three years.
The Josh Gibson Foundation—a local organization that serves city youth and is headed by Sean Gibson, the legendary ballplayer’s great-grandson— unveiled a grave marker for Gooden Friday afternoon, in the hilly terrain of the Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock.
Gooden, who was born in Pittsburgh in 1900 and died of a heart attack in 1934, spent his playing career with the Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Keystones, Detroit Stars, Toledo Tigers, and Cleveland Tate Stars, according to online records. Mr. Ciaramella said that Gooden wasn’t known for his legendary play like Josh Gibson, but it’s important for historians like himself, baseball fans, and others to recognize the impact they had on the sport.
“Ten years ago, everyone knew Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson, those were the bigger names,” said Mr. Ciaramella, who teaches history for Insight Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. “For a historian like myself, there has been an explosion in interest in the Negro Leagues [in recent years]. I like to do original research, so being from Pittsburgh, we have the Keystones, the Crawfords, the Grays … and more people are kind of rediscovering this history, and a lot of people are becoming more interested.
“The best thing you can do as a history teacher or a historian to give back to the community is through history.”
Sean Gibson was at Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game’s HBCU Swingman Classic in Seattle on Friday -—which showcased 50 of the top players from Division I Historically Black Colleges & Universities. In phone interview, he said it’s vital to give someone like Gooden a proper final resting place.
The foundation has raised $6,000 to mark about five unmarked graves for Negro Leaguers this year, including Gooden. But Sean Gibson said about $30,000 more is needed to place proper grave markers for the 19 Negro League players that have been found across the county, thanks to Mr. Ciaramella’s research.
There has been a rising interest in the Negro Leagues and the impact of such players in recent years, and that has fueled awareness, Sean Gibson said. Major League Baseball announced in December 2020 that they will be incorporating Negro League statistics into their official record books. The Kansas City Monarchs, another Negro League team founded in 1920, pioneered the use of lights for night games, paving the way for Major League Baseball to do the same.
The grave markers project is a good step forward—and another aspect of how he feels he’s giving back to Pittsburgh and the region through his foundation, honoring his great grandfather, Josh Gibson, and his grandfather, Josh Gibson Jr.— the organization’s founder.
“It’s keeping my grandfather’s legacy alive and the best way to have that is through the youth,” Sean Gibson said. “It’s been great to give back … [by] using Josh Gibson’s name and platform to help kids reach their goals.”
For Chris Cox, the unveiling of the Gooden grave marker also has personal meaning. Mr. Cox, vice president of the board of directors for the foundation, said the process for laying each grave marker is extensive, as they work with local cemeteries to locate where the players’ final resting places are, and then pour the concrete foundation.
Mr. Cox said normally cemeteries have to get permission from living descendants to see whether a grave marker can be placed. There are none for Gooden, so the foundation was able to proceed, he said.
Pittsburgh was the “Grand Central” location for the Negro Leagues, given that the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords—two of the league’s most famous teams — played here.
And there’s a personal connection for Mr. Cox, going back to the days of his youth.
“As a little kid, my favorite baseball player by far was Willie Stargell,” Mr. Cox said. “To me, he was a combination of Paul Bunyan and Hercules. And Josh Gibson himself was originally buried in an unmarked grave, and Willie Stargell was one of the people who helped raise money for Josh Gibson’s marker … so now to be part of an initiative that is placing markers for other Negro League players, the way that Willie Stargell did for Josh Gibson, is really gratifying.”
Learn more about Insight Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School at https://insightpa.k12.com/.
