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Proclamation recognizing the late Mr. Cumberland W. Posey, Jr. and thanking Duquesne University for creating the Cumberland W. Posey Jr. Endowed Fund to retain talented minority students who have financial need.
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WHEREAS, American baseball player, manager and team owner in the Negro Leagues, as well as a star professional basketball player and team owner, Cumberland Willis Posey, Jr., a native of Homestead, Pennsylvania, was born on June 20, 1890 and died on March 28, 1946 at the age of 55; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Posey played basketball at Penn State, Pitt and Duquesne in the early 1900s. During his three years at Duquesne, he led the basketball team in scoring. He also played on amateur and semi-pro basketball teams that routinely defeated top national collegiate and professional squads; and
WHEREAS, during the mid-1910s, Mr. Posey formed, operated, and played for the Loendi Big Five, which became the most dominant basketball team of the Black Fives Era through the mid-1920s, winning four straight Black Basketball World Championship titles; and
WHEREAS, in baseball, Mr. Posey played with the Homestead Grays in 1911, was manager by 1916, and became owner in the early 1920s. Under his leadership, the Grays became one of the most successful franchises in the Negro Leagues, winning multiple championships with a roster of players that rivaled the all-stars of the then-segregated Major Leagues; and
WHEREAS, in 2006, Mr. Posey was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; and
WHEREAS, in October 2013, Duquesne University established the Cumberland W. Posey, Jr. Endowed Fund with a principal of $1 million dollars to help retain talented minority undergraduate and graduate students who have financial need;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Allegheny County Council does hereby recognize the late Cumberland W. Posey, Jr. for his outstanding accomplishments, and we thank Duquesne University for creating the endowment fund in his name...
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