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If you have ever driven down Routh and Flora, on the east side of downtown Dallas, you might have noticed a few buildings that appear older and out of place amongst the modern architecture. In what Dallas calls the largest contiguous urban arts district in the nation, you may see St. Paul United Methodist Church, the only religious institution left in Dallas’ central business district ingrained in Black worship traditions. Around the corner from St. Paul is the historic Moorland YMCA building (now home to the internationally known Dallas Black Dance Theatre), which after construction on the building finished in 1930, was the only YMCA for Black people in the entire Southwest United States. 

Most prominently on the corner of Routh and Flora, you perceive the brick facade of a building attached and dwarfed by a larger, modern structure, with a singular statue in front of it. That building is now part of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and that statue is arguably the greatest baseball player in the history of the storied Chicago Cubs franchise, Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks. The most remarkable fact about Ernie Banks is that he is from Dallas’ very own Freedman’s Town, also affectionately known as Short North Dallas.

Ernie Banks was raised in a quaint wooden house near a plot of land now occupied by the ultra-modern Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, home of the Dallas Theatre Center. Born on January 31, 1931, and delivered by a Black midwife at home, Banks shared in his autobiography, “Mr. Cub,” that he “doubt(s) if doctors were available in that section of Dallas anyway.” He described the Short North Dallas neighborhood as “generally a good one because all the families were poor and hardworking,” and as a young adolescent he picked cotton with his father and shined shoes, noting that “it seemed like all the Black kids in Dallas shined shoes and nobody ended up making very much money.”

Banks explained that it was Booker T. Washington High School that helped him develop a new interest in sports. Booker T. Washington High School, opened on October 30, 1922, near the site of the former Wright-Cuney School (Colored School No. 2), served for 17 years as the only Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) high school for Black students. Dallas ISD began as a racially segregated school district in 1884, and Booker T., the first school in the Southwest to offer an accredited course in Negro Life and History, attracted so many Black students that it had to restrict attendance to half-days. Towns, cities, and even other counties outside of Dallas that didn’t provide high schools for Black children bused them to Booker T. Washington. The school won more sports championships than any other African-American school in the state of Texas before integration, according to the records of the Texas Inter-Scholastic League of Colored Schools (currently, Booker T. Washington no longer competes in interscholastic sports).

“it seemed like all the Black kids in Dallas shined shoes and nobody ended up making very much money.” – Ernie Banks

It was in this school, and in this segregated environment that the legend of Ernie Banks was nurtured and raised. Banks details in his autobiography sneaking into the old Moorland YMCA because his parents were too poor to afford memberships, and developing an affinity for softball, after playing basketball, football, and volleyball. He, however, credits his parents (his father played for the Dallas Green Monarchs), the coaches and staff of Booker T. Washington High School for nurturing him, teaching hi,m and providing him opportunities that led him to the Negro Leagues, and ultimately, to Major League Baseball.

Ernie Banks was the Cubs’ first Black player when he signed with the team in 1953, after being drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and the following year, he was runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year. This began one of the most storied careers in Major League Baseball history. Banks became:

• 11-time National League All-Star (and played in 13 of the 15 All-Star Games);
• National League (NL) Most Valuable Player in 1958 and 1959, and became the first NL player to be awarded MVP in back-to-back seasons, leading the MLB in RBI in both seasons;
• The first Cubs player to be awarded the NL Gold Glove award (for shortstop) in 1960

Ernie Banks’s accolades after retiring include:

• Holding the Chicago Cubs records for games played (2,528);
• A Chicago Sun-Times fan poll fans voted him the greatest Cub ever in 1969;
• Being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 during his first year of eligibility; 
• Having his uniform number 14 retired by the Chicago Cubs in 1982, becoming the first player to have his number retired by the team;
• Being named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999;
• Also, Ernie Banks and Bob Nelson became the first Black owners of a Ford Motor Company dealership in 1967 (Ernie Banks Ford on the South Side of Chicago);
• Having a statue in his likeness (Mr. Cub) erected in front of historic Wrigley Field in 2008;
• Being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama for his contribution to sports in 2013;

As of March 2024, the Chicago Cubs franchise had a valuation of $4.225 billion, positioning them as the fourth most valuable Major League Baseball team in the nation. That valuation rests on the legacy of Dallas Freedman’s Town’s greatest son and the greatest Cub, Ernie “Mr Cub” Banks.

The post Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks: The Legacy of Booker T. Washington High School and Dallas’ Freedman’s Town appeared first on Dallas Weekly.