The Mysterious Brown Bombers of Paine Field
Editor’s note: Originally published February 22, 2018. Republished February 9, 2023.
Baseball and local history are my passions. So I was surprised when I recently read about an African American baseball team that played in Everett during World War II; surprised because I had never even heard of them before.
The Brown Bombers were formed out of the 66th Aviation Squadron and they played semipro ball at Paine Field. Military baseball, or "service ball" as it was called, was a popular pastime during the Second Great War.
This may be the only existing photo of the team..
The army was segregated in 1943. There was a second, all-white baseball team that played at Paine Field at the same time as the Brown Bombers.
The 'Bombers competed against other African American service ball teams from nearby air force and navy bases, as well as local Negro league teams like the Seattle Steelheads.
The Brown Bombers played in a state tournament in 1943 but broke up the following year for a good reason: they were integrated into Paine Field's all-white baseball team. According to one baseball historian, this was one of the army's first desegregation efforts.
Baseball franchises lost star players to the draft during World War II. Service ball teams like the Brown Bombers helped fill empty ballparks. Also, in the absence of male athletes, women hit the diamond. This was an opportunity for gender equality in an era in which most fields (pun intended) were not open to females. Pictured is Dorothy Harrell of the Chicago Colleens catching a pop fly.
What surprises me is that I can find no mention of Everett's Brown Bombers in either the Northwest History Room archives nor the UW archives— the two major sources I use regularly for historical research. A deep dive into Google yielded almost nothing.
I was able to find passing mentions of the 'Bombers in only two books: Lyle Wilson's Sunday Afternoons at Garfield Park: Seattle's Black Baseball Teams 1911-1951 and Steve K. Bertrand's Paine Field.
Which makes me wonder: how has this overlooked team been forgotten by history? And do they deserve a proper homage in our hometown?
I'm seeking any leads about this elusive, but undoubtedly important Everett baseball team. All I know is that they played. But I feel like there's more story here, waiting to be uncovered.
What was their record like? Who were the players? What was the team like after desegregation? Why did desegregation happen here* in the 1940's when racial division was a way of life, even in the American Armed Forces?
Do you have any information on the Brown Bombers of Paine Field? Please email me at rjamesporter@gmail.com
It seems that the final chapter of this Everett team has yet to be written.
*Racial integration in local baseball wasn't unprecedented. A black Canadian baseball player named Jimmy Claxton broke the color barrier in Snohomish County a full three decades before the 'Bombers or Jackie Robinson took the field. Claxton played for the Mukilteo Lighthouse Keepers in 1923 and for an Edmonds team later that year. Claxton, an itinerant mixed-race man who played multiple positions for multiple baseball teams in a given season, is a fascinating character. He has all the makings of a folk hero.
But his full story is for another time.
Richard Porter writes for Live in Everett.