aCentury

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the 20th Century

The obituary below appeared in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Evening News on Saturday, July 22, 1944.  It reports the death of a popular Negro Leagues outfielder, Rap Dixon. 

OBITUARY
Former Baseball Player Here, Rap Dixon, Dies

Funeral services for Herbert A. (Rap) Dixon, of 133 Adams Street, Steelton, former centerfielder for the old Harrisburg Giants Negro baseball team, who died on Thursday at Detroit, Mich., will be held Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock from the George F. Hooper Funeral Home, Second and Adams Streets, Steelton, with the Rev. E. L. Green, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Steelton, officiating. Burial will be in Midland Cemetery.

He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Dixon, and one sister, Mrs. Rachel Ransom, of Steelton; two brothers, Paul, of Steelton and John, United States Army officers Training School, Wyoming; one uncle, the Rev. James F. Goodwin, Steelton, and two aunts, Mrs. May Rolan and Mrs. Sally Johnson, both of Harrisburg.

Friends may call at the funeral home tomorrow evening from 7 to 9 o’clock.

"Former Baseball Player Here, Rap Dixon, Dies," Harrisburg Evening News, July 22, 1944, transcribed by Ted Knorr.

notes

Ted Knorr notes: "The paper called him Ralph Dixon; I edited to match my information and the tombstone – Herbert A. Dixon."

<<  The tombstone of the Dixon family, in Midland Cemetery, Swatara Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  Rap Dixon, at the bottom, is listed with an incorrect date of death.  He died in 1944.

For more information:

You can contact Calobe Jackson, Jr. and Ted Knorr, who co-wrote the article "Blackball in Harrisburg," a major reference source for information about Negro League baseball in Harrisburg at:

Calobe Jackson, Jr.
email:  calobejacksonjr@aol.com

Ted Knorr
309 Fox Ridge Court
Harrisburg, PA 17102
717 238 5151
email:  papabell@aol.com

Read "Blackball in Harrisburg" by Knorr and Jackson
Go to part 1: "Early Games and the Independent Era"
Go to part 2: "League Play and Major League Integration"
Read about Cliff Christian and the Steelton Giants