The African American Experience 

Basketball, Rucker League, Mount Morris

Courtesy of New York City Parks Photo Archive, Neg. 40224. Holcombe Rucker (1926-1965) worked as a playground director at numerous Harlem parks from 1948 to 1964. In 1947, he started a basketball league and tournament in Harlem, founded on the motto, "each one, teach one," that sought to combine education and recreation. By the 1960s Rucker had transformed his local league into a legendary basketball venue in which top notch professionals such as Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins and Kareem Abdul Jabar (then Lew Alcindor) shared the court with amateur players and legendary "street" athletes. Rucker's original tournament continues at Colonel Charles Young Playground, and in 1974 PS 156 Playground was renamed in Rucker's memory.