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#phstmu This week I will be highlighting a past Negro League stadium that is still standing today and is a living part of history. 1/11
The stadium I would like to highlight this week is J.P. Small Memorial Stadium in Jacksonville, FL formerly known as Durkee Stadium. J.P. Memorial stadium hosted the Jacksonville Red Caps in 1938 and from 1941-42. 2/11
Although this stadium hosted the Jacksonville Red Caps, this stadium has a mixed history of acceptance. This is largely in part to Jacksonville officials and the public at the time. 3/11
In 1946 when Jackie Robinson was starting to emerge into the major leagues with the Montréal Royals, Jacksonville officials refused to allow black and white players to play on the same field and the game ended up being cancelled. 4/11
I admire the stand that the Montréal Royals took against the Jacksonville officials causing the game to be cancelled. It would have been easy at the time for them to tell Jackie that he simply wouldn't play in the game but rather they stood with Jackie cancelling the game. 5/11
Fast forward a few years however and the stadium became one of the first integrated stadiums in the MLB minor leagues South Atlantic League. 6/11
Sam Wolfson the owner of the Jacksonville Braves was a leader in integrating the stadium at the time. Wolfson ended up having the stadium named after him for some time. 7/11
Today, J.P. Small Memorial Stadium still has the same Grandstand seating that was originally in the park and has a capacity of almost 9 000. There is also a museum and historical markers found in the stadium. 8/ 11
J.P. Small Memorial Stadium is currently the home park of the Stanton College Preparatory School baseball team. From some google reviews people have stated that it has not been well kept and needs some work. 9/11
I believe that a stadium with such rich history would be a great focal point of Negro Leagues history for the MLB and could serve as a great park to play some Spring Training games in the future and bring light to it's history. 10/11
