In the 1940s America was in the throes of a crippling depression and a world war. While all Americans coped with the overwhelming challenges that the economy and war presented, some Americans faced an additional hardship, oppressive segregation. Legal segregation—Jim Crow as it was informally known, defined every aspect of life for those who lived under its restrictions. Popular culture, specifically professional baseball, was not excluded from the effects of Jim Crow. The story of the integration of professional...