Thought to be the Grandfather of Black Basketball, Edwin “EB” Bancroft Henderson was honored this previous weekend by dedication of a statue to him on the College of the District of Columbia (UDC) sports activities advanced additionally named after him on the Van Ness campus. The ceremony was highlighted by plenty of audio system and members of the family who have been in attendance to provide testimonials on this big of a person’s contributions as a famous writer, instructor, coach and administrator within the disciplines of bodily schooling and athletics.
A 1904 graduate of the college when it was, Miner School, Henderson would later earn his graduate diploma from Harvard and have become the primary African American man to earn certification to show bodily schooling in the USA.
His contributions to Black athletes over a half century are too quite a few to listing. His storied profession contains the formation of YMCA packages geared towards getting Black folks to take part in well being and bodily schooling. He’s additionally credited with the formation of the Jap Board of Officers which gave construction to the game of organized basketball for Black gamers.
His efforts have been additionally instrumental within the forming of the CIAA convention and the District of Columbia Public Faculties athletic program.
“From a historic perspective, EB had the blueprint,” stated Barrington D. Scott, a member of the UDC Board of Trustees and a key driving drive within the honor. “He was on a mission to create alternatives for Blacks in sports activities at a really difficult time. His dedication and imaginative and prescient helped take the participation of Blacks in sports activities, recreation and schooling to a brand new degree that modified the panorama eternally.”
Scott stated that the challenge to call a constructing in 2021 was the primary of a two-stage course of.
“We realized that there have been no buildings on the UDC campus named after anybody,” defined Scott, an alum of UDC. “They have been all numbered. So we pushed for the naming of the athletic advanced as part of Stage 1.”
In February 2022, UDC renamed its sports activities advanced to the Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson Sports activities Complicated in his honor.
The Stage 2 proposal by Scott featured the statue in Henderson’s honor.
”It was definitely a crew effort,” Scott stated. “It began with pledges and donations from alums with a beneficiant donation from the Ted Leonis Group. It was solely becoming that he obtained this prestigious honor. His contributions to Blacks within the space of sports activities but in addition within the schooling area is unmatched. Now we have to be sure that we protect the historical past of these like EB who make important contributions.”
Classically educated grasp sculptor Brian Hanlon was chosen to create the E.B. Henderson statue.
His pioneering efforts as an organizer and activist laid the muse for athletics within the Black neighborhood within the District of Columbia and the USA. And as a public faculty instructor in Washington, D.C., his college students included such notable figures as musician Duke Ellington and medical pioneer Dr. Charles R. Drew.
Henderson co-authored the Spalding “Official Handbook of the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Affiliation of Center Atlantic States,” from 1910-1913. Moreover, he wrote “The Negro in Sports activities” in 1939, revised in 1949, and “The Black Athlete,” in 1968. His estimated variety of revealed articles is over 3,000.
Henderson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2013 and the UDC Athletic Corridor of Fame.
“We’re so very pleased with his accomplishments,” stated grandson, Edwin Bancroft Henderson II, following the ceremony. “He was lengthy overdue for induction into the Naismith Corridor of Fame. Rather a lot has to do with the truth that he by no means did the issues he did for private causes; it was all based mostly on paving the best way for future generations.”
Of all his grandfather’s lofty accomplishments, Henderson II stated one stands proud greater than others.
“To be the primary to create the chance for Blacks to be taught to play the sport with officers and guidelines is outstanding when you concentrate on it,” the proud grandson stated. “That is a crucial a part of his legacy.”
Henderson has an award named after him that acknowledges minority SHAPE America members, who’ve confirmed years of dedication to scholarship, mentorship and repair to minorities and under-served populations inside their occupation.