Back in 2009 I wrote about what is possibly the last known appearance of Dave Brown, left-handed pitching great of the 1920s and accused murderer, in 1938 in Greensboro, North Carolina. According to one account, Greensboro police apprehended a man on a local charge and sent his fingerprints to the FBI, and a match was made with the Brown case from 13 years before. According to another, the cops remembered the wanted poster for Brown, decided that their prisoner strongly resembled the photo on it, and contacted the NYPD. The New York authorities confirmed it was Brown, but ultimately declined to extradite and charge him for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. Read the whole thing. In my opinion, these press reports don’t by themselves prove that Dave Brown was indeed in Greensboro in 1938, but it’s certainly a strong possibility.
Anyway, in the original post I noted that it would be great to see Brown’s wanted poster. Enter Larry Lester and his new book, Black Baseball in New York City. Voilá!
Looking back at the original post, I see that I had mentioned the possibility of trying to dig up the Greensboro police record of this affair. Of course I never followed up, so while it remains on my long-term to-do list, it would also be great if anybody else wanted to take this up.
This is why I love belonging to SABR. Thanks for the post!
Posted by: Brian Aldridge | December 1, 2017 at 08:02 PM