On the recordNovember 20, 2024
I stand today to recognize the life and career of one of my incredible constituents, Minnie Forbes, the last living owner of a Negro League baseball team, the Detroit Stars. Minnie Forbes was born in 1932 in Mississippi and eventually found her home in Grand Rapids with her uncle, Ted Rasberry, a player in the Negro Leagues. Her uncle taught her to play softball. As a young teen, she played on the Grand Rapids' Cook's Brown Dolls softball team. Minnie found her true love for the game working behind the scenes in team management. By 18, Minnie was a secretary for her uncle and his multiple baseball teams--the Grand Rapids Black Sox, the Detroit Stars, and the Kansas City Monarchs. Then, at just 24, she became the owner of the Detroit Stars. Minnie was shocked but felt prepared to take over the team, and thus became one of the few women ever to own a Negro League baseball team. As an owner of the Detroit Stars, Minnie endured racism and prejudice toward herself and her players, especially while traveling for games. Players were often forced to sleep and eat on the bus, as the restaurants and hotels refused to accommodate and even feed Black Americans. Sometimes they were even chased out of town. The players and Minnie persevered through strife and their love of the game. The ripple effects of that persistence echoed through the civil rights movement. Minnie and her contemporaries made strides in changing American culture through sport.…
