Black History in San Diego: Public Memory of Bert and Johnny Ritchey

Black History in San Diego: Public Memory of Bert and Johnny Ritchey

Stephanie Williams

History 538 Dr. Jill Watts

San Diego History: The Ritchey Family Black histories are often underrepresented or left out of historical narratives. Most early African American contributions in downtown San Diego are under-recognized in mainstream historical contexts.

Bert and Johnny Ritchey were two San Diego natives of African-American heritage who were connected to local public memory recognizing their accomplishments in athletics, politics, and social activism. In her book The Power of Place: Urban Landscape as Public History, urban historian Dolores Hayden acknowledges the power of places and spaces in connecting to public memory. Hayden points out that “Americans are just starting to realize the need for public places to celebrate the history of ordinary citizens,” and “we can begin to create public places in all parts of our cities, to mourn and to celebrate who we really are.” Three places and spaces that can connect public memory to the Ritchey brothers are San Diego High School, The San Diego Police Department, and the Padres baseball stadium.

In 1985 at the age of seventy-six, Bert Ritchey was interviewed by Leonard Knight for the San Diego History Center. During this interview, Ritchey talked about his personal and family history. The Ritchey family has generational roots in San Diego history since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. William H. Ritchey, the father and head of the household, worked for over thirty years as a janitor at Stall’s Crockery Store, located at Sixth and C Street in San Diego. According to Bert, his father moved to San Diego around the year 1900, and prior to this his history is sketchy because he lived at a Catholic Schoolhouse in Louisville as a boy and the name Ritchey may have been adapted from someone he worked for when he left the school. Ritchey described his father as a man who was well known by people in San Diego after working for so many years at Stall’s Crockery Store. In the interview with Knight, Bert spoke of his father’s position as a janitor, “In those days, as you know, if a black is working downtown he’s got to be a janitor. He couldn’t be anything else. There was nothing else offered to a black.”

San Diego History: The Ritchey Family Daisy V. Ritchey, the mother of Bert and Johnny, was raised on a farm in Illinois before her family moved to La Jolla and purchased a large plot of land that was later sold and became the location of the Bishop’s School for Girls. In the 1985 interview Knight asked Ritchey, “Do you remember your mother being active in the San Diego community?” Ritchey responded, “She was one of those that started the Young People’s Community Center out at the 2800 block on Imperial Avenue.” The Community Center was designed as a space for Black youth to have meetings, dances, and social gatherings. The youth center was active until 1984, when Bert said he ended the organization because now there were more “places where young people, the blacks in the community, hold meetings and have social affairs and so forth.”

Long time residents of San Diego County, William and Daisy Ritchey were remembered for their devotion to the people they served in the community. In the 1930 Census records, William at age forty-nine, and Daisy Ritchey at age fifty, were listed along with their nine children, five girls and four boys ages ranging from twenty-three to seven years old. With the exception of their sons Bert and Johnny, who continued living and contributing to the Black community in San Diego, the history of the Ritchey family is not well known.

The registration cards of Bert and Johnny Ritchey.

Men of age eligible to enlist were required to register in case they were drafted.

Bert Ritchey The Centre City Development Corporation Downtown San Diego African American Heritage Study (CCDC) is a study that was conducted to highlight black histories in San Diego during the early twentieth century. Bert and Johnny Ritchey are among those whose histories are recognized in the CCDC report. Born in San Diego in 1909, William “Bert” Ritchey became well known as a multi-talented athlete excelling in track and field, basketball, and football during his youth and high school years. His talents attracted recruitment from multiple colleges, and he was ultimately offered a scholarship to play football for USC in 1927. However, Ritchey was benched for his entire college career. The CCDC points out “the Trojans refused to play him--he was taken by the school only to prevent his playing for opposing teams.”

When he discussed his experience at USC, Bert said that at the time Black students could only attend classes and it was uncommon for them to obtain scholarships of any kind, especially athletic scholarships. In the interview with Knight, Bert said Black students at USC “couldn’t partake in any campus activities or extra-curricular activities that the school maintained, such as band, the glee club, the Trojan Club, the Amazon Club.” In the article “The Myth of the Superspade: The Persistence of Racism in College Athletics,” political historian Timothy Davis analyzes the history of racism in college sports. Davis argues that during the early 1900’s “black student-athletes faced various forms of discrimination in both locker rooms and on the playing field.”

Bert Ritchey African Americans have long stood up to racial oppression through forms of social organizations and political protests. In 1928 Ritchey joined an organization at USC with the twelve to fourteen Black students enrolled at the University in an attempt to enforce their rights to participate in student activities. Though they formed the organization in an attempt to enforce changes, Ritchey said these changes never happened while he was a student. Throughout college, Ritchey faced discmination from the athletic department at USC, including an attempted bribe by a coach to prevent Ritchey from attending a banquet dinner. Despite the racial oppression he faced at school, Ritchey was active in helping better the community around him. During the Great Depression, Ritchey organized and played in a Thanksgiving charity football game to raise money to feed the homeless.

Ritchey’s activism and dedication to social justice continued beyond his college days.

Shortly after college, for a short period of time he worked for the San Diego Sheriff's Office.

Later he became a San Diego Police Officer, where he dedicated twenty eight years of his life and became the first African American to work on the SDPD homicide detective unit. After retiring from law enforcement, Ritchey passed the Bar exam and started his own private practice continuing to serve the needs of the Black community in San Diego. Both San Diego High School and the San Diego Police Department are places and spaces that can connect to the public memory of Bert Ritchey.

Johnny Ritchey Johnny Ritchey was born in 1923 and raised in San Diego. Following the footsteps of his older brother, Johnny became a multi-talented high school athlete. Ritchey was especially recognized for his baseball skills. Like Bert, during the Jim Crow era Johnny wasn’t invisible to racial discrimination in sports. An article in Voice of San Diego reports a moment in 1940 when he was just 17, “officials refused to let Ritchey and another black athlete play in the American Legion baseball fields in North Carolina,” and “two years earlier the same thing had happened to him in South Carolina.” Local sports historian William Swank who knew Ritchey said these incidents of racial discrimination “really made an indeliable mark on him.”

San Diego High School, Coach Mike Morrow turned Ritchey from a hitter to a catcher by the end of his senior year. Shortly after Ritchey signed a contract with the Padres, Coach Morrow said in an interview that he considered Ritchey a “fine boy and a promising player.” Before beginning his professional career in the Negro League, Ritchey played at San Diego State College. His college education was interrupted by “serving in the U.S. army for 27 months during WWII in a combat engineering unit,” soon “rising to the rank of staff sergeant.”

Unlike Bert, Johnny was able to transcend racial discrimination in professional athletics, and he became as the first African-American player chosen to play for the San Diego Padres in the Pacific Coast League. In a San Diego Union Tribune publication on November 23, 1947, journalist Mitch Angus reports that Padres manager Bill Starr revealed he scouted Ritchey during the 1947 season when the youngster was a .369 hitter with the Chicago Giants of the American Negro League.” While sitting in his office in front of a handful of reporters, Starr declared that Ritchey’s “ record at San Diego High School, State College, and with the Chicago Negro team has been particularly outstanding. He is a potential major league prospect and has a better than reasonable chance of helping the Padres.”

Johnny Ritchey Johnny Ritchey was the first African American to play baseball in the Pacific Coast League. He is recognized as a pioneer in San Diego baseball, breaking racial boundaries as he signed a contract on November 22, 1947 just two months after Jackie Robinson was named Major League Baseball’s first rookie of the year. During his time on the Padres, Ritchey dealt with racial discrimination from players on opposing teams. When asked about Johnny Ritchey during an interview, Padres Sr. Vice President of Community Affairs Tom Seidler said, It’s hard to overestimate what he had to overcome and overestimate his legacy because in the Spokanes in Portland and Sacramento he was the only black player on the field.

He was the target of racism and the one who had to put up with stuff singularly because there weren’t other African Americans on the field.

Ritchey was considered by many to be “San Diego’s version of Jackie Robinson.” In 2019 the Padres introduced The Johnny Ritchey Breaking Barriers scholarship program to honor his legacy, with the first prize being a $5,000 scholarship. According to Derek Torgenson from NBC, the scholarship program was created “to continue, as Johnny did, trying to make the world a better place.” Johnny Ritchey can be remembered in spaces and places such as San Diego High School where he was a multi-talented athlete and the Padres baseball park.

San Diego State College Baseball Team 1946 Johnny Ritchey attended San Diego State College where he studied pre-law and played baseball.He left college early to serve as an engineer in the army for 27 months during WWII. Ritchey is fourth to the left on the top row.

Ancestry, US School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 for John Ritchey. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/40146_b086189-00 124?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=DOE35&_phstart=successSour ce&pId=147246674 .

San Diego High School San Diego High School dates back to 1882 when it was originally opened as Russ school, with Spanish style buildings. The school prized athletics including basketball, baseball, rowing, football, and others. After Russ school was burned down in 1911, it was re-designed by architect F.S. Allen of Pasadena and this became San Diego High School. In 1915 a football stadium was built for $145,000. During the 1920’s, several San Diego High football talents received university scholarships, notably Hobbs Adams, Russ Saunders, and Bert Ritchey. Years later, Bert’s brother Johnny Ritchey received a scholarship to play baseball at San Diego State University. San Diego High School is a place that connects to local public memory of the Ritchey brothers. While this story revolves around Bert and Johnny’s public memory in San Diego, the Ritchey family had four boys; Bert, Alfred, Earl, and Johnny, all who attended San Diego High School and displayed athletic talents. Bert and Johnny remained in San Diego and served the local Black community during their adult years.

The Ritchey brothers dealt with racial discrimination throughout their lives. San Diego High School was a place where the brothers were praised for their athletic talents. In 1985 Leonard Knight asked Bert Ritchey, “How were you treated in San Diego before you became a collegiate?” Ritchey said, “I never noticed personally, from elementary school through high school, any prejudicial action on the part of any school authorities here.” San Diego High School is a place that was a safe space for the Ritchey brothers during a time when racism was blatant and dangerous across the United States.

San Diego High School: William “Bert” Ritchey

San Diego High School In the book The Power of Place:Urban Landscapes as Public History Dolores Hayden reviews connecting public memory through landscapes and ordinary buildings, and says this is something that has been largely ignored. According to Hayden, “monumental architecture, common urban places like union halls, schools, and residences have the power to evoke visual, social memory.� In 2001 Bert Ritchey was honored on the Alumni Wall; he is remembered for breaking records at the school in several sports including football and track and field. In 2017 Johnny Ritchey was added to the baseball Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring his time at San Diego High School and San Diego State. San Diego High School is a place that can have the power to connect public memory of the Ritchey brothers, and their athletic talents have been recognized and remembered over the years.

San Diego High School: Johnny Ritchey Photo Courtesy of San Diego High School Archives

2017 Breitbard Hall of Fame: Honoring Johnny Ritchey Image: Courtesy of Padres Archives

The San Diego Police Department Bert Ritchey graduated college in 1932, a time when stable jobs were hard to find during the Great Depression. Right out of college, he took time off and stayed in Los Angeles for around six months. On a trip back to San Diego, Ritchey ran into Sheriff Henry Cooper who had known him since he was a boy. Sheriff Cooper offered Ritchey a job at the station if he wanted it. Ritchey worked for the Sheriff for around six months, when in 1935 he became a police officer for the San Diego Police Department. Shortly after he joined the police force, World War II broke out and Ritchy was drafted.

When a journalist interviewed him, Ritchey said “All the groups of draftees were being sent to Texas… I had heard of problems of racial discrimination there and was afraid if I did have to go, I would not make it back.” Luckily he did not have to go because the city of San Diego “used its authority to exempt him and other police officers from service.” After twenty-eight years of service, Ritchey was recognized as the first Black homicide detective on the force.

During the last few years he worked with the police department, Ritchey took night classes studying to pass the Bar exam. One week after retiring from the San Diego Police Department, Ritchey passed the Bar and opened his own private practice. Like his mother Daisy, Bert had a passion for helping people in the community and he continued to serve the community in San Diego throughout his life. The San Diego Police Department is a place and space that can invoke public memory of Bert Ritchey.

San Diego Police Officer and Homicide Detective: Bert Ritchey

Images: Courtesy of the San Diego Police Museum

The Padres Baseball Stadium The term “color line” has been used by Black scholars such as Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois to describe racial discirimination and segregation in society. In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball as the first Black player on the Brooklyn Dodgers. That same year, Johnny Ritchey broke the color line as the first Black minor league baseball player when he was signed by the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. In 2004, Major League Baseball began an annual celebration of Jackie Robinson Day recognizing the Pioneer in breaking the color line. Since then, all MLB players, coaches, managers, and umpires wear the number 42 in his honor every season on April fifteenth.

Honoring the 72nd anniversary of Robinson and Ritchey breaking the color line, the 2019 Padres invited a member of the Ritchey family to “throw a ceremonial first pitch.”

During an interview with Voice of San Diego, baseball historian William Swank talked about the racial discrimination and oppression Ritchey faced while playing baseball for the Pacific Coast League.

According to Swank, “It was a lonely experience for him. Pitchers threw at him, and when he’d slide into base, players would fall on him. He thought his teammates should have retaliated and backed him up, but they didn’t do that, and he internalized it all.” Although he endured racial discrimination on the field, in an interview with Swank, Ritchey said “I always played my best when I was happy and all I ever wanted to do was just play baseball.” In the Voice of San Diego interview, Swank said “If Ritchey wasn’t black, there’s no question that he would have made it to the majors.” After his baseball career, Ritchey worked at the Continental Bank Company in San Diego until his retirement.

San Diego Padres: Johnny Ritchey Image: Bill Swank, Baseball in San Diego: From Padres to Petco

The Padres Baseball Stadium In 2005 Johnny Ritchey was honored with a bronze statue installed in Padres Petco Park, largely in part by the efforts of local historian Williams Swank who was a friend of Ritchey. During an interview on the day the statue was unveiled, Padres President and CEO Dick Freeman said, “Johnny Ritchey is not only a Padres legend, he is an important part of the history of San Diego. As a member of the Padres, he paved the way for African Americans in the Pacific Coast League. We’re proud to honor him with this special tribute.” The statue is mounted on a large granite stone with a plaque that has a quote from Ritchey in 1948 about breaking “the color barrier” in the Pacific Coast League. Ritchey said, “It was a thrill to play for the Padres. The fans cheered and my feeling was it was because I was a San Diego boy making good. It had nothing to do with race.” Public memory of Johnny Ritchey is recognized at Padres Petco Park, and in Padres history.

Plaque on the bronze statue of Johnny Ritchey Image: Courtesy of San Diego Padres Archives

Bronze statue of Johnny Ritchey Image: Courtesy of San Diego Padres Archives

Closing Thoughts In the book The Power of Place Dolores Hayden discusses the use of museums, storytelling, art, and conversations with the public to highlight stories that have been left out of dominant historical narratives. There are so many stories that remain to be told, especially of Black history across the United States. The brothers were recognized in places and spaces such as San Diego High School, the San Diego Police Department, and with the San Diego Padres. Bert was honored in the San Diego Police Museum, and was recognized on the Alumni Wall for San Diego High School. Johnny was honored with a plack for the Breitbard Hall of Fame and with a bronze statue at Petco Park. The Ritchey family was instrumental to society in San Diego throughout the twentieth century. Bert and Johnny Ritchey remained dedicated to the city of San Diego throughout their lives.

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