Monday, 27 May 2013
History
The official history contains several details which seem contradictory, such as the team being organized in 1926 in Chicago's Savoy Ballroom, which opened in 1927. What is clear is that the genesis of the Globetrotters took place on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, in the 1920s, where all the original players grew up. Most of the players also attended Wendell Phillips High School. When the Savoy Ballroom opened in November 1927, one of the premier attractions was the Savoy Big Five, a basketball team that played exhibitions before dances. Hinckley, Illinois, was home to the first Harlem Globetrotters game on January 7, 1927.
In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute over bringing back
other players who had left the team. That fall, several players led by
Tommy Brookins formed a team called the "Globe Trotters" that toured Southern Illinois that spring. Abe Saperstein
became involved with the team, though exactly to what extent is
unclear. In any event, by 1929 Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa
with his basketball team called the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters."
Saperstein decided to pick Harlem as their home city, since Harlem was
considered the center of African-American culture at the time and an out-of-town team name would give the team more of a mystique. After four decades, the Globetrotters played their first "home" game in Harlem in 1968.
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