MassMoments reminds us today that Harry “Bucky” Lew – the first African American to play professional basketball – was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on January 4, 1884.

On this day

…in 1884, Harry Haskell Lew was born in Lowell to a family that had long
been active in the struggle for racial equality. Known from childhood as “Bucky,” he made his mark as the first African American to play professional basketball. After leading the local YMCA team to a Merrimack Valley championship, he played defense for the Pawtucketville Athletic Club in the New England Basketball League. When the League folded, Lew stayed in the game, working as a player and general manager for his own Lowell-based teams. In 1928, he moved to Springfield. One of the pioneers of basketball, he has never been inducted into the Hall of Fame, located just a few miles from where he spent the last 35 years of his life.

Read more here at MassMoments.com.