Get the story of the Harlem Globetrotters’ Illinois origins at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Authors of new book to speak Jan. 14

 

[January 08, 2025]  SPRINGFIELD – Despite their name, the Harlem Globetrotters began their amazing story of basketball fun and showmanship in Illinois, not New York, as the authors of a new book will explain in an appearance Jan. 14 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Learn how a Jewish immigrant on Chicago’s South Side founded the team and included Harlem in the name as a link to the heart of African American culture. Get the story of the team’s early days touring the Midwest in an unheated Model T and playing for less than $50 a night. Find out how they beat some of the best teams in America while developing a reputation for basketball wizardry that would make the Globetrotters a worldwide sensation.

Brothers Mark and Matthew Jacob, the authors of “Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports,” will speak at the ALPLM’s museum building (212 N. Sixth Street, Springfield) at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Doors open at 6.

This is a free program, but advance registration is required. The authors will be available afterward to sign copies of their book, which can be purchased in advance. Visit www.PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov and click on Events.

The Jacobs’ book goes beyond the creation of the Globetrotters. It also lays out Saperstein’s role in supporting baseball’s Negro Leagues, the creation of the three-point shot and his assistance to sports greats like Satchel Paige and Jesse Owens. His contributions to the game earned Saperstein a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. At five-three, he is the shortest man enshrined there.

Mark Jacob is a former editor at the Chicago Tribune. Matthew Jacob is a former journalist and is now a public health consultant. They previously collaborated on the book “What the Great Ate: A Curious History of Food and Fame.”

The mission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is to inspire civic engagement through the diverse lens of Illinois history and share with the world the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. We pursue this mission through a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship built on the bedrock of the ALPLM’s unparalleled collection of historical materials – roughly 13 million items from all eras of Illinois history.

For more information, visit www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov. You can follow the ALPLM on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram.

[Christopher Wills (he/him/his)
Director of Communications
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]