Dr. E.B. Henderson
Washington, DC’s first Championship team
The Washington 12th Streeters
In 1904, Dr. E. B. Henderson was the first to introduce the game of basketball to African American youth after learning the game at the Dudley Sargent School of Physical Training at Harvard University. There he became the first African American male in the nation to become certified to teach in the new field of physical education. On returning to Washington D.C. he taught his students in Washington, D.C.’s Colored Public Schools.
Educator
After graduating from Miner Teacher’s College in Washington, D.C., E B was encourage by Miss Anita Turner to attend the Dudley Sargent School of Physical Training at Harvard University in the Summer of 1904 to earn certification to teach physical education. There he learned the fundamentals of the new sport of Basketball.
E B Henderson became the first African American certified to teach the relatively new discipline of physical education in the United States.
He would go on to teach physical education in the Washington, DC Colored Schools for fifty years.
Innovator
Because the American Amateur Union (AAU) would not allow Black teams to join their segregated league, E. B. was encouraged by James E. Sullivan, the president of the AAU to start his own league.
Taking Sullivan’s advise, E. B. Henderson established the first Black athletic league, the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association (ISAA-1906), the first school league for Blacks, the Public School Athletic League (PSAL- 1910), and the first organization to train and organize officials and referees, the Eastern Board of Officials (EBO-1905).
This Issued in the era for African Americans youth to participate organized sports in the United States.
Renown Author
E. B. Henderson was an avid writer his whole life of life. Writing over 3,000 letters to the editor, being a contributor to the National Negro Press Association (NNPA), Crisis Magazine, The Messenger, and other publications
E. B. was the first to chronicle the pursuits of African American athletes. Publishing the first Spalding publication to include Black athletes and teams in the Spalding Official handbook: The Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association of Middle Atlantic States between 1910-1913. At the behest of Carter G. Woodson, he wrote The Negro in Sports, in 1939 & 1949. Then in 1968, E. B. wrote The Black Athlete.
E. B. Henderson’s writings are the primary source for those who would later write books on African American in sports, such as Doc Young and Arthur Ashe.
February 2010 Flashbacks cartoon, in Washington Post, Kids Section
E.B. Henderson Picketing Segregation At National Theater, second sign from the right.
2013 Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Springfield, Massachusetts, September 8, 2013
Unveiling of Dr. E. B. Henderson statue at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC May, 24, 2023
