Pink makes history as athlete, educator

Nearly 18 years after Thomas Lane Pink died; he is remembered by family, friends and colleagues as a superb educator and man of principle. Pink worked for integration, despite making enemies and receiving threats. His education career followed one as a baseball player. Pink was instrumental in improving education for African-American students in Wharton County, his former students say.

He taught at several schools in the area, but is most notably remembered for the time he spent at a school in the rural community of Glen Flora in Wharton. It was there that he managed to lift many students out of a life of picking cotton and gave them hope for a better future. Family and friends credit him with influencing hundreds of children to attend college and embark on careers. "Almost everyone that graduated from that school went on to college," recalled his widow, Callie M. Pink, 84, a retired school teacher. "They went on to be doctors, lawyers, teachers..." Pink taught and served as principal at that school, which no longer exists but was known as T. L. Pink High School, although children of all ages attended there. As a tribute to him an elementary school in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District was named after him in 1997 in Richmond.

Before becoming an educator, Pink was an accomplished baseball player who traveled extensively throughout Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. According to Raymond Doswell, curator of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas, Pink is said to have played for the Negro Major League some time between the late 1920's and early 1930's. Doswell explained, “There is no record of Pink playing in the major leagues; however, that does not mean he did not play.  During this time period, it was not unusual for people to fall through the cracks because the Negro Major League was not as widely covered in the major news media as the white teams.” The history of African-American baseball has been compiled mainly from newspaper clippings, interviews and from stories told by players. The Negro Major League was officially formed in February 1920 and lasted until about 1955. Its creation was in response to the growing need among the African-American sports community to become more organized and to have reliable game scheduling. It was also indicative as a major effort on the part of African-Americans to build their own institutions and create a sense of pride at a time when many doors were closed to them.

Pink played second baseman for the Houston Black Buffaloes and the San Antonio Black Indians, both Minor League teams in Texas. He is also reported to have played for the Chicago American Giants in the Negro Major League, Doswell said. Callie Pink said her husband often would tell her stories about his time as a baseball player. "They would go miles and miles over many roads, and they lived in one big car," Pink said. He seemed to enjoy playing most in Canada." Little remains from that time period except for a few newspaper clippings and a small photograph. The life of a black baseball player provided opportunities of considerable travel and adventure, Doswell said. "It wasn't glamorous, but it certainly was adventurous," Doswell said. Pink has been quoted in newspaper reports about his time as a baseball player: "Some folks have put down the black baseball leagues, but it was good to me back then. We had our transportation and rooms paid for as well as $5.00 a day. During the Depression, this was pretty good compared to .50 cents a day picking cotton at home.

Pink was born in Kendleton, the youngest of 10 children. He grew up on a farm, picking cotton. Callie Pink said he lived a sheltered life as a child, not really aware of the prejudice that existed throughout the United States. This was because he lived in a community that was primarily black. It was not until his travels as a baseball player that he was exposed to the type of mistreatment that African Americans often received. Though she was not married to Pink during the years that he played baseball, his wife remembers undergoing discrimination during her travels with him after they were married.  On one occasion, she and her husband were traveling through New Mexico. She said that every time she and Pink approached a hotel the proprietors saw them coming and immediately placed a "no vacancy" sign on the window. "We felt bad and afraid," Pink said. "We had been hearing that the barriers had dropped, that black people could go on and live like people. I can just see those signs going up."

When Pink left his “first love”, baseball, he dedicated his time to educating black children. Shortly after his retirement in 1972, Pink was quoted as having said: "The greatest accomplishment during my 65 years of life is the inspiration and motivation I feel I have given to black children." Throughout his 38 years in education, Pink was known for pushing black children to stay in school. He also worked with parents to help them see how important education was for their children's future. "And the parents supported him," Callie Pink Said.

Thomas Pink also worked tirelessly to promote integration, which sometimes made enemies. His widow said it was not unusual for her and her husband to receive threats. In fact, Pink was known to have been reprimanded at times for his outspoken nature. "He was a strong-willed person and believed in saying what he felt," she said.

Throughout the local community, Pink is most notably remembered by those whose lives he affected the most - his former students. Caselene Y. Batts, a retired teacher who lives in Wharton said she finds it difficult to put feelings into words when speaking about her former teacher. "There are so many great things to say about him," Batts said. "He was instrumental in children learning and moving ahead. He thought that not one child should be left behind."

Another former student, Marie Murray, a 57-year-old educator with the Dallas Independent School District, was not only a student but also a close friend of the family. "He was a major influence on my life," said Murray.  According to Murray, it was Pink who encouraged her as well as her siblings to go to college. "He made sure that anyone who wanted to go to college and was capable of going got to go," Murray said. "I have experienced things I never would have experienced if it had not been for him encouraging me to follow my dreams," Murray said.

Pink died of a heart attack in 1986 at age 80. Shortly afterward a group of former students formed the T. L. Pink alumni Association in his honor.   Each year, former students from throughout the country come together for a banquet in Wharton to give scholarships to deserving students. Over the years, the organization has given away more than 100 scholarships. The group also holds meetings throughout the year in the Greater Houston area. "We try to keep him alive through the alumni association, Batts said,”And it's doing great things!"