Known throughout the nation for his pitching prowess, Andy Cooper made a name for himself at a time when segregation placed limits on black baseball.

Now known as the nation’s pastime, baseball has captivated Americans since the early nineteenth century. But prior to the 1940s, blacks could not play in either of the major leagues or their respective farm systems. African Americans instead formed their own teams and eventually created their own leagues. The Negro National League (NNL), formed in 1920, lasted until 1931 and was soon followed by the Negro American League in 1937. Andrew “Andy” Lewis Cooper had a successful career in both of these leagues, playing for both Detroit and Kansas City.

Born in Waco in 1898, Cooper grew up in the city and attended A. J. Moore High School and Paul Quinn College. The date of his birth is often debated, since his draft certificate states that he was born in 1897, while his birth certificate reads 1898.

Cooper first played for the Dallas Black Giants in 1919 before making the jump to Detroit. He made his debut with the Detroit Stars in 1920 and played for them until 1927, after which he was traded to the Kansas City Monarchs. Known as one of the best pitchers in baseball, Cooper was traded for five players. He played one season with the Monarchs before rejoining the Stars in 1930. In 1931, he returned to the Monarchs and continued to play there until 1939.

Cooper was known as one of the best pitchers in baseball and was recognized for his absolute control over every one of his pitches, including a fastball, curveball, and screwball. His knowledge of batters’ weaknesses gave him one of the best records in the business. Cooper eventually transitioned from a starter to a successful relief pitcher. By the end of his playing career he posted a 116-57 record and held the NNL record for saves with 29. Cooper became player manager of the Monarchs in 1937, when they joined the Negro American League, and by 1940 he had led Kansas City to three championships. Cooper’s last appearance as a player in 1939 was with the Monarchs.

Andy Cooper did not always play in a Negro league. During the early twentieth century, many African American ballplayers turned to barnstorming—the practice of traveling around the world to play exhibition matches—instead of professional baseball. In 1927, financial difficulties led to pay cuts in Negro baseball and a contract-jumping ban was put in place to prevent players from switching leagues or leaving their team. Cooper decided to test the ban by joining the Philadelphia Royal Giants, a traveling team. His first barnstorming trip took him as far as Japan and Honolulu. When he returned to the NNL, he was assessed a thirty-day suspension and a $200 fine for contract-jumping. Cooper’s second barnstorming trip occurred during the off-season while the Monarchs played in an independent league following the dissolution of the NNL. That trip took him to Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and China.

Cooper continued to coach Kansas City until 1941, when he suffered a stroke during the preseason. He went home to Waco to recover but died from a heart attack on June 3rd of that year. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in East Waco.

Cooper died only a few years before the beginning of the integration of baseball with the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946. Although he never saw integration, Cooper left a lasting legacy on the sport, eventually recognized by the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2006, a special committee selected Andrew Cooper and several other African American players for induction into the Hall of Fame, ensuring that his legacy as a phenomenal player, smart manager, and inspiring mentor continues on.

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For over a century, Greenwood Cemetery has stood as a final resting place for many Wacoans and as an important marker for city history.

Established as a segregated cemetery in 1875, Greenwood sits just off of I-35 Business 77. Some of Waco’s most notable African American citizens—including the great baritone Broadway singer Jules Bledsoe, accomplished professor Dr. Vivienne Lucille Malone-Mayes, and Negro League Baseball star Andrew Lewis Cooper—lie in rest there. The cemetery also holds graves for both Union and Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War, as well as a mass grave of victims from the 1918 influenza epidemic during World War I. However, a chain-link fence separated the white and black graves until the twenty-first century. Though no one can remember the origin of the fence, it stood for many years as a harsh reminder of racial inequality.

For much of Greenwood’s history, volunteers maintained the cemetery. The People’s Cemetery Association cared for the black side of the cemetery until 2007, and the East Waco Greenwood Cemetery Association cared for the white side until 2014. Despite the efforts of these volunteers, each association experienced difficulty in securing funds and membership to adequately care for the cemetery. Both associations ultimately voted to turn over care of the cemetery to the city of Waco.

Greenwood has served Waco for more than 125 years and time has taken its toll. Although most people today use gravestones, financial struggles led some families in the past to use wood or random objects as markers, and some did not use a marker at all. The use of materials other than stone led to significant deterioration among many grave markers, making it difficult for families to locate loved ones.

The East Waco community has been calling for the preservation of Greenwood Cemetery for many years. Upon taking full control of the cemetery in 2014, the City of Waco promised to maintain and preserve this piece of history as well as improve it and make it more attractive and safe. In addition to cleaning up and caring for the space, the city pledged to replace a stolen historical marker, create a more attractive entrance to the cemetery, and remove the controversial fence segregating graves.

However, a lack of clear ownership for much of the land in the cemetery and a concern that unmarked graves might exist below the fence delayed its removal. After two years of research and work with the Texas Historical Commission, the City of Waco removed the chain-link fence in June 2016. The posts remain until the city is able to obtain the services of an archaeologist to ensure that unmarked graves are not disturbed by their removal.

Though the removal of the fence represents a move toward unity and preservation, the work is not finished. East Wacoans and park officials are still striving to ensure that a fence enclosing and unifying the entire cemetery is built, a more attractive entrance created, and appropriate signage developed so that the story of this important place in East Waco is not forgotten.

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Two years after Texas became a republic in 1836, Israel Washington Speegle formed a wagon train in Tennessee with several of his brothers and his wife’s family members and moved to Texas. When Texas was admitted to the union in 1845, McLennan County became a much more inviting place to settle.

In 1849, Speegle, a blacksmith and farmer known by many as “Wash,” became the fifth settler west of the Brazos River in McLennan County. He purchased 320 acres from Lee R. Davis for a dollar per acre on land located near Davis Creek, originally called Duck Creek.

Speegle held church services in his home made of logs. In 1850, he donated land for the construction of a church building, a small log structure that was also used as a school. A cemetery plot in which the first person buried was an African American slave who belonged to Speegle was also on site. When the mail routes were established, the community—now named for the man who first settled the area—appointed Speegle to serve as the first postmaster for Speegleville on May 27, 1879.

A two-room frame structure replaced the log cabin used for church and school in 1860. A Baptist congregation constructed a new church building in the area in 1891 after Louannah Speegle—Wash’s wife—and their son sold an acre of land for one hundred dollars. In 1918, the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Greenwood Methodist Episcopal Church South arrived in the area and combined to form the Speegleville Methodist Church. A tabernacle constructed by the men of the church near the east bank of Speegleville Branch served as their first church structure. Church members completed construction of a frame building around 1920. The construction of Lake Waco in 1930 caused the church to be relocated and a new structure was built.

By 1938, the Speegleville community consisted of about thirty-nine homes, three grocery stores, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, a Methodist church and a Baptist church, and possessed its own primary physician to serve the community—Dr. A. L. Armstrong. The community constructed a two-story school in 1912 and replaced it in 1948.

Frequent flooding of the Bosque River besought the city of Waco, prompting the construction of a new earthen dam structure on the river. In 1962, the dam enlarged Lake Waco, displacing several communities, including Speegleville. The original village now lies beneath the lake’s waters. The Methodist church was moved to its present location on Willow Grove Road. A new, relocated structure replaced the Baptist church, and Speegleville cemetery is now located on Interstate Highway 35 south of Waco. A new brick structure with a gymnasium replaced the old Speegleville School.

Many community members felt the village closeness and intimacy seemed to be lost in the move. However, in recent years, Speegleville has again regained some of its former sense of community and today boasts approximately two thousand homes.

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