TOLEDO, Ohio — WTOL 11 is celebrating Black History month with a series of special stories in February.
Toledo's rich Black history contributes to our region's culture, community, strength and pride.
Check out these Black History Month stories:
A Black baseball pioneer
Moses Fleetwood Walker made history as the first Black professional baseball player when he joined the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1883.
Originally from Steubenville, Walker played baseball at Oberlin College and later at University of Michigan.
Walker's talent continued to elevate and eventually landed him on the Toledo Blue Stockings as a 26-year-old.
"That first team won a pennant in the Northwestern League, one of the few pennants that Toledo has won ever since 1883," Toledo Mud Hens historian John Husman said. "He was a big part of the reason why."
Read the full story HERE.
Toledo's first Black-owned barber college
Antwaun Turner opened the first Black-owned barber college in Toledo in 2023.
He says passing on skills to a younger generation drives him.
"Lead by example and show them the fruits of my labor," Turner said. "Give them the knowledge that they might be interested in."
A second-generation barber, Turner said he grew up watching his father in a shop in Atlanta. Now he's teaching a new generation at Topp of the Line Barber College in Toledo.
You can read the full story here.
From family tragedy to breaking stereotypes
After losing his father to a drowning accident when he was a small child, Rickey Perkins seemed unlikely to become a competitive swimmer, much less a college swim coach.
In fact, Perkins was late to the game as a swimmer -- only taking lessons when he was in his early teens and the other kids in the swim class were much younger.
"I was with the little six-year-olds. I learned pretty fast. It came almost naturally."
Perkins pursued his natural talent and now is BGSU's swimming and diving coach, a part of the changing face of a sport that historically included few people of color.
"As an African-American, there's not many swimmers out there at all so this may be something that [I] can lead a different way," Perkins said.
You can read the full story HERE.
Toledo restaurateur says his family's roots in southern cooking serve up success
Jaleo Young named his south Toledo restaurant, J'Mae's Home Cooking, after his grandmother, Johnnie Mae.
Her legacy inspired J'Mae's menu of southern classics, including gumbo, pig feet, okra and catfish.
Young attributes his family's resiliency to his grandmother, and he strives to honor her through the food he makes at J'Mae's.
"All of our food is Southern-inspired, which is what my grandmother grew up on, which she provided and passed down to the generations," Young said.
You can read the full story HERE.
A Black Vietnam veteran reflects on his service
For Jack Robinson, of Perrysburg, serving in the military was a family tradition stretching back through generations. His father marched in Africa with General Patton in World War II. So when most of his friends were either drafted or enlisted into the U.S. Army, Robinson decided to sign up himself in 1967. His father was thrilled, his mother was not.
"So I went home and told my Mom I enlisted in the Army. I thought she was going to kill me," Robinson, 75, who now lives in Perrysburg, said. "My dad looks at me and says, 'Proud of you, son.'"
And it was off to basic training, where the Army learned how good a mechanic he was. Robinson was fast-tracked to helicopter school and eventually sent to Vietnam, where he served from 1968-70, as a crew chief for Huey helicopters.
Read the full story HERE.
The Black community's historic hesitance to seek mental-health care is being met by a new initiative to break down stigma
Earlean "Queen Cookie" Belcher lost her grandson to suicide. She said mental health disorders, when combined with religious stigmas, stop many in the Black community from getting help.
"I've been told, 'Did I know that people that take their lives go to hell?' So when people hear that, if they're in depression, they don't reach out," Belcher said.
Belcher wants society to remove those stigmas. She said it could be monumentally helpful to all.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is working to break down stigma and address historic barriers that sometimes prevent people from seeking the help they need.
Read the full story HERE.
RELATED: Celebrating Black History Month in northwest Ohio, southeast Michigan: Events, activities and more
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