Illegal Foreign Object

Octavius Valentine Catto was an educator and civil rights activist who organized one of America’s first baseball leagues. He was born in 1839 to Sarah Isabella Cain, a member of Charleston, South Carolina’s prominent DeReef family. His father, William, had been enslaved but gained his freedom and became a minister.

Initially, William Catto planned to move his family to Baltimore, Maryland, then Liberia to act as a missionary. Those plans fell apart after the Charleston Presbytery discovered a letter written by William in 1848 that, in its opinion, threatened to “excite discontent and insurrection among the slaves.” A warrant for William’s arrest was issued, but the family escaped to Philadelphia, just above the Mason-Dixon Line.

After moving his family to Pennsylvania, William wrote “A Semi-Centenary Discourse,” a history of the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Like his father, Octavius was a thinker and organizer. In 1859, after his time in school (where he was known for his “outstanding scholarly work, great energy, and perseverance”), Catto was hired as a teacher of English and mathematics at the very school where he graduated, the Institute for Colored Youth. He later became the principal of the male department of the I.C.Y., serving in the role until his death.

Catto was outspoken in his desire for equal rights for all people and partnered with Frederick Douglass to create a committee to sign up Black men to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War. Eleven regiments were formed and sent to the front to fight against the Confederates.

In 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War, the Excelsior Base Ball Club of Philadelphia became the city’s first All-Black baseball team. On October 3rd, 1867, it played against the Uniques, another All-Black team representing the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, in a game the Brooklyn Daily Times called “the colored championship of the United States.” The official score is debatable (as is often the case with 19th-century baseball reporting). Excelsior team history scores the game a 7-inning, 42-37 victory for the Philadelphia club. The New York Tribune called the game after six innings with a score of 37-24. Regardless, both accounts give Excelsior the win, making it the “first All-Black baseball champion” in history.

Octavius Catto was not only a scholar but also an athlete. He enjoyed playing cricket but fell in love with baseball while stationed at Camp William Penn during the Civil War. At the end of the baseball season, he recruited several ballplayers from Excelsior to play for another team that also played its inaugural season in 1866: the Pythian Base Ball Club of Philadelphia.

Founded by Octavius Catto and fellow civil rights activist Jacob White Jr., the Pythian Base Ball Club applied to join the Pennsylvania Association of Amateur Base Ball Players in 1867. Catto believed baseball “built community ties, pushed racial boundaries, and established local and national networks of support.” Despite having the backing of Philadelphia Athletics vice president E. Hicks Hayhurst, Catto learned the nominating committee was likely to rule against his team joining the association. Before the ruling, Catto and White rescinded their application.

The lack of a league didn’t slow down Pythian. As an independent, the team played against anyone willing to take the field, including several all-white clubs. Catto played shortstop and ran the team alongside White.

After the war, Catto fought for the successful desegregation of the Pennsylvania transit system. By 1869, his activism also helped push the State of Pennsylvania to ratify the 15th Amendment, granting Black men the right to vote. He singlehandedly registered thousands of African Americans to vote.

On October 10th, 1871, election day, Catto was on his way home from the I.C.Y. After voting, he went to the school to send all the teachers and students home, fearing violence might erupt. The streets filled with people (mainly the Irish, who were not pleased with competing with Blacks for jobs) trying to prevent African Americans from casting their votes. The night before the election, Irish rioters shot two Black men, killing one of them (the other, Moses Wright, was wounded and died three weeks later). Catto had thrown his full support behind progressive Republican candidate William Stokley, who expected a tight vote against Democrat James Biddle. A block from his home, several men accosted Catto. One of the men, Frank Kelly, an associate of the Democratic party’s boss, shot Catto three times, killing him. Octavius Catto was 32. Kelly fled the scene but was apprehended five years later and tried in a court of law. In 1877, despite six prosecution witnesses testifying they saw Kelly murder Catto, an all-white jury acquitted him of any wrongdoing.

Pythian disbanded after Catto’s death.

On October 10th, 2007, the 136th anniversary of Octavius Catto’s death, a memorial headstone was placed at his grave. Almost ten years later, in September of 2017, a 12-foot bronze statue of Catto was installed at Philadelphia City Hall.