Black Baseball Players in Early Twentieth-Century Cuban Press and Visual Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID24242068
AuthorsJuliana Fillies Testa Muñoz (0000-0003-1682-3450, Claremont McKenna College)
Year2026
Pages1-23
Publication date2026-10-28
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHispanic Research Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-2737 • E-ISSN: 1745-820X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14682737.2026.2747601
OpenAlexW7224082173
LanguageEN
References cited32

This article examines the widespread circulation of photographs of Black baseball players in early twentieth-century Cuba, arguing that they marked the emergence of a new kind of imagery of Afro-descendants in popular media—one that, to some extent, conveyed a form of “visual equality” between Black and white individuals. Moreover, these images reveal the persistence of young Black players who continued to seek spaces and opportunities in baseball despite racial prejudice among club administrators and calls by some white critics to exclude Black athletes from integrated teams. As material objects with a “social biography” (Elizabeth Edwards), these photographs were embedded in everyday life and commercial culture. Images and news of Black players appeared not only in prominent magazines like El Fígaro, Carteles, and Bohemia, but also in advertisements, photo albums, and cigarette packs, further amplifying their circulation and cultural impact.

Advertising · Afro-Cubans · Afro-descendants · Bohemia · cigarette packaging · commercial culture · Cuba · Cuban press · early 20th century · photo albums · Visual culture · Afro-Latin American Studies · American Sports and Literature · Cuban History and Society