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Sports Heroes Who Served: Army Major, Baseball Player Advocated for Equal Rights

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Sports Heroes Who Served is a series that highlights the accomplishments of athletes who served in the U.S. military.

Octavius Valentine Catto was born Feb. 22, 1839, in Charleston, South Carolina. His parents were African-Americans and were free.

The family later moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Catto played cricket in school and then later took up baseball.

In a photo from the 1800s, a man dressed in a suit poses for the camera.
Octavius Catto
Octavius Catto poses for a photo; the year and place are unknown.
Photo By: Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution
VIRIN: 680801-O-ZZ999-001

He graduated from Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth, or ICY, in 1858 and then did a year of postgraduate study. Beginning in 1859, he taught English and Math at ICY.

In 1861, when the Civil War started, Catto joined with abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass to recruit black men to fight for the Union. Together, they helped to raise 11 regiments of U.S. Colored Troops in the Philadelphia area. At the time, Catto was commissioned an Army major.

After the Civil War, Catto helped establish Negro league baseball in Philadelphia. He was the captain and the star player of the Pythian team there. In 1867, the team applied to join the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Amateur Association of Base Ball Players.

The application was denied, which established a segregation precedent in U.S. baseball that continued for many decades, according to Ryan Swanson, author of the book "When Baseball Went White."

A flyer from the 1860s urges "men of color" to enlist in the Union Army.
Recruiting Poster
A poster recruits "men of color" to enlist in the Union Army after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The flyer was written by Frederick Douglass and signed by him and 54 leaders in the Philadelphia African American community, including Octavius Catto.
Photo By: Courtesy of the family of Frederick Douglass
VIRIN: 630415-O-ZZ999-001

Nevertheless, the Pythian team, which was not an NAA member, played the all-White Olympics team on Sept. 3, 1869, losing to the Olympics 44-23. The event was significant because it was the first baseball game ever played between a "white and colored club," according to a New York Times newspaper article.

Catto also became the principal of ICY and worked to desegregate Philadelphia's streetcars.

Joining with Douglass, the two gave speeches calling for ratification of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed that no citizen could be kept from voting "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude."

The amendment, which was the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments, was ratified Feb. 3, 1870.

In 1871, Catto urged Blacks to vote, and it was the first time in Philadelphia's history that they voted, despite violence against them at voting sites.

A historical marker on a city street marks the place where Octavius Catto lived.
Historical Marker
A historical marker at 812 South Street in Philadelphia recognizes the achievements of Octavius Catto.
Photo By: Courtesy of Morris Levin
VIRIN: 130415-O-ZZ999-001
A statue shows a man leaning forward with his arms outstretched.
Catto Statue
A statue of Octavius Catto stands in Philadelphia.
Photo By: Courtesy of Mark Jason Dominus
VIRIN: 180323-O-ZZ999-001

During the voting site violence, Catto was shot and killed by a man who didn't want Black Americans to vote.

Frank Kelly was identified as the killer by multiple witnesses. He was captured and put on trial; an all-white jury exonerated him.

In September 2017, a 12-foot bronze statue of Catto was unveiled at Philadelphia's City Hall.

More Stories of Sports Heroes Who Served
sports graphic
Sports Heroes Graphic
Sports Heroes Who Served graphic - with title
Photo By: DOD
VIRIN: 200706-D-ZZ999-903

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