Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 1 print box (.3 lin. ft.)

Summary

1. The John "Snookie" Walker Scrapbook consists primarily of printed material relating to the activities of several of the athletic clubs Walker organized and managed from the early 1950s to the 1970s. Included are a history of the Renaissance Basketball Team and news clippings about the team under his management, as well as about Snookie's Sugar Bowl Five, the Biddy Basketball League, and the Harlem Globe Travellettes. The articles discuss games and players. There are also programs for tournaments in which these teams competed in New York City and out of state, 1950-1974. The collection includes a file of letters written by executives in various athletic organizations as well as from Jackie Robinson (1961) during his tenure as vice president of personnel with Chock Full o'Nuts. Information about "Snookie" is contained in news clippings in addition to letters pertaining to a salute honoring him in 1985, recognizing his many years contributing to Harlem life.

Subject

1. Walker, John Snookie, 1919-1985
2. Snookie's Sugar Bowl 5 (Basketball team)
3. New York Renaissance (Basketball team)
4. Biddy Basketball League (New York, N.Y.)
5. African American athletes -- New York (State) -- New York
6. African American youth -- New York (State) -- New York
7. Athletic clubs -- New York (State) -- New York
8. African American basketball players -- New York (State) -- New York
9. Basketball -- New York (State) -- New York
10. Basketball teams -- New York (State) -- New York
11. Youth league basketball -- New York (State) -- New York
12. Sports -- New York (State) -- New York -- 20th century
13. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Genre/Form

1. Scrapbooks.

Call number

1. Sc MG 535

Note

1. Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Source (note)

1. John "Snookie" Walker

Biography (note)

1. John "Snookie" Rendall Walker was a Harlem business entrepreneur and organizer/manager of several Harlem-based youth and professional athletic teams. He lived his entire life in Harlem (1919-1985), opening the Sugar Bowl Restaurant on West 137th Street and Seventh Avenue in 1947, which he co-owned with his wife, Dolores. In 1950 he organized Snookie's Sugar Bowl Five basketball team, which featured semi-professional and professional players and had its glory years from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. In 1951 Walker helped to reorganize the New York Renaissance, or Rens, the well-known professional basketball team, and was the team's manager-coach through the mid-1950s. In 1957 he organized the boys' Biddy Basketball League of Metropolitan New York and became its first commissioner. Walker's "Biddy" teams went on to win national and international basketball tournaments from the mid to late 1960s. He also formed youth leagues in softball and baseball for pre-teens throughout the 1950s to the 1970s, and an all-women's basketball team, the Harlem Globe Travellettes, in the early 1950s.

Author

1. Walker, John Snookie, 1919-1985.

Title

1. John "Snookie" Walker scrapbook, 1950-1985 (bulk 1950s).

Biography

1. John "Snookie" Rendall Walker was a Harlem business entrepreneur and organizer/manager of several Harlem-based youth and professional athletic teams. He lived his entire life in Harlem (1919-1985), opening the Sugar Bowl Restaurant on West 137th Street and Seventh Avenue in 1947, which he co-owned with his wife, Dolores. In 1950 he organized Snookie's Sugar Bowl Five basketball team, which featured semi-professional and professional players and had its glory years from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. In 1951 Walker helped to reorganize the New York Renaissance, or Rens, the well-known professional basketball team, and was the team's manager-coach through the mid-1950s. In 1957 he organized the boys' Biddy Basketball League of Metropolitan New York and became its first commissioner. Walker's "Biddy" teams went on to win national and international basketball tournaments from the mid to late 1960s. He also formed youth leagues in softball and baseball for pre-teens throughout the 1950s to the 1970s, and an all-women's basketball team, the Harlem Globe Travellettes, in the early 1950s.

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Research call number

1. Sc MG 535