Fenwick Henri Watkins

Forty years before Jackie Robinson walked onto Ebbets’ field, becoming the first black major leaguer since Moses Fleetwood Walker; integrated baseball was common in the Denver Post tournament, Cuba, and even in Burlington, VT. While William Clarence Matthews was tearing up the Semiprofessional Northern League for the Burlington team another black star was making headlines at the University. From 1906-1908 the University of Vermont baseball team included Fenwick Henri Watkins, a young black man from Burlington who was better known for his athletic skills on the football field and basketball courts. In baseball he was relentless on the base paths and in the field while battling racial issues and earning respect. While teammates believed that Watkins had major league talent, he would have never had a chance due to baseball’s segregation agreement. At UVM he played with two successful major leaguers, Larry Gardner and Ray Collins. This trio and the rest of the 1908 Vermont team was one of the most talented in school history winning a New England Championship with 15 wins and 9 losses.

After graduation, Watkins coached football, basketball, and baseball at Fargo College in North Dakota, where he also led the athletic program.