Subject
WGN; Wendell Smith; Baseball; Jackie Robinson
Description
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories
Wendell Smith left his mark on sports, society, and Chicago.
In 1973, the Chicago Board of Education named an elementary school in his honor. In 1975, the Chicago Park District named a nearby park after Smith.
Those are two lasting monuments to the trailblazing WGN sports anchor, and pioneering baseball writer who is as responsible for the integration of baseball as Jackie Robinson himself.
“Everyone remembers the name Jackie Robinson,” Fed Mitchell, a longtime writer for the Chicago Tribune, said. “But there’s always a story behind it, right? Wendell Smith is a tremendous story that people need to know much, much more about.”
From 1964 until his death in 1972, Smith was WGN’s utility player covering news and sports.
Creator
by: Mike Lowe
Source
Publisher
wgntv.com
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