Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, Inc. - Negro League Team - 1945 dated Baseball Stock Certificate

Stock certificate #3 printed by Goes. Brooklyn, New York.

The Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a short-lived but significant Negro League baseball team, operated in 1945 and 1946 as part of the United States League (USL). Based at Ebbets Field, the team was formed when the Philadelphia Hilldale Daisies were relocated to Brooklyn. They received uniforms identical to their major league namesakes and played in a league intended to compete with established Negro Leagues. Managed by baseball Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston, the team aimed to be a respectable, high-level squad that called Ebbets Field home. They frequently drew modest crowds for doubleheaders.

However, the team was largely viewed as a vehicle for a larger, hidden agenda. Historians found it challenging to pinpoint complete, consistent won-lost records due to this perception.

In reality, the formation of the Brown Dodgers was a strategic move by Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey. He provided support to the USL to clandestinely scout Black talent under the guise of this new franchise. Through the Brown Dodgers, Rickey and his scouts, including Charleston, evaluated top talent in close proximity while publicly appearing to support a separate black league. After Rickey successfully signed Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella in 1945, his interest in the team waned. The franchise ultimately folded alongside the rest of the United States League in 1946. While not a long-lasting institution itself, the Brown Dodgers served as a crucial, albeit hidden, step toward the integration of Major League Baseball.