Clarence Matthews

William Clarence Matthews (January 7, 1877 – April 9, 1928) was an early 20th-century African-American pioneer in athletics, politics and law. Born in Selma, Alabama, Matthews was enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute and, with the help of Booker T. Washington (the principal of the institute), enrolled at the Phillips Academy in 1900 and Harvard University in 1901. At Harvard, he became one of the standout baseball players, leading the team in batting average for the 1903, 1904, and 1905 seasons.

Matthews, having come from poverty and with no living parent, had to financially support himself with multiple jobs, but still managed to graduate in 1905 and was accepted to Boston University School of Law. In the summer of 1905, Matthews joined the Burlington, Vermont baseball team of the Northern League, making him the only African-American in any white professional baseball league at the time. Halfway through the season there were rumors of Matthews joining the struggling Boston Beaneaters as the starting second baseman, but possible backlash throughout the National League stopped the rumors. Matthews joined the Bar association in 1908 and became one of the first African-American Assistant District Attorneys in the country. He worked as legal counsel to Marcus Garvey before getting active in Republican Party politics and helping get Calvin Coolidge elected President in 1924. He died in 1928 while serving in Washington, D.C., as a U.S. Assistant Attorney General. For challenging the color line in professional baseball he is considered by his main biographer, Karl Lindholm, to be "the Jackie Robinson of his day".

Early life William Clarence Matthews was born the third oldest child to William Matthews, a tailor, and Elizabeth Matthews in Selma, Alabama on January 7, 1877. He had two siblings, Fannie, the oldest, and Walter (or Buddy), the second oldest. His father died in the 1890s and his family moved to Montgomery, Alabama.

He was enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute from 1893 until 1897 where he graduated second in his class, was a standout athlete (organizing the first football team and being the captain of the baseball team), and became a student of Booker T. Washington. Matthews was the first head football coach at Tuskegee and he held that position for two seasons, 1893 and 1895; there was no team in 1894. His coaching record at Tuskegee was 0–2. Matthews also played on at least one of the teams he coached, serving as the captain. Washington arranged for Matthews to continue his study in the north, first at the Phillips Andover Academy, where he was the only African-American in his class of 97 students, and then in the fall of 1901 at Harvard University.

Harvard baseball Matthews was a recognized baseball standout at both the Tuskegee Institute and at Phillips Andover, and thus was able to walk on to the Harvard varsity baseball team as a freshman. The tryouts for the Harvard Baseball team had over 140 people for only 12 spots, and Matthews was one of the first ones selected for the team. His joining the team caused some controversy, as one of a few African-American baseball players in American colleges at this point, and he had to be held out of games occasionally because of protests by other teams. During his sophomore year the team cancelled a tour through the southern states entirely. He led the team in hitting his final three years (batting a high .400 and stealing 25 bases during his senior year) as the Harvard team won 78 games and lost 18 with him over that span.

On the Harvard baseball team, he played alongside second baseman Eddie Grant and pitcher Walter Clarkson, both of whom went on to careers in professional baseball. However, Matthews was considered by one local paper to be the "greatest big league prospect" on the Harvard team. Matthews was highly lauded as a member of the Harvard Baseball team with The Boston Post dubbing him "no doubt the greatest colored athlete of all time" and "the best infielder Harvard ever had."

While at Harvard, Matthews was mentored by William H. Lewis who was a coach for the Harvard football team and the first African-American assistant United States Attorney in the country. Matthews criticized Lewis for leaving the Republican party and because of his efforts African-Americans in the North voted overwhelmingly for Coolidge. Following the 1924 election, Matthews delivered a list of seventeen demands to improve the position of African-Americans in the Coolidge administration.

When Coolidge won, Matthews moved to Washington, D.C., and became an Assistant Attorney General. Since 2006, the Ivy League baseball team to win the conference title receives the William Clarence Matthews Trophy.