Memphis Red Sox

CTL-E-5775 · Organization · other · 1920–1959

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07038 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-5775.

The Memphis Red Sox were a Negro league baseball club in Memphis, Tennessee, and one of the longest-lived franchises in Black baseball. Accounts of the founding differ: the club's standard history dates it to 1920 and names Memphis barber Arthur P. Martin as its first owner, while a Minor League Baseball account dates the founding to 1923 under the Martin brothers, and another history names funeral director Robert S. Lewis as the organizer, with the Martin brothers buying the club in the mid-1920s. What is not in dispute is the arc: the Red Sox played in the Negro Southern League and the Negro National League before becoming a charter member of the Negro American League in 1937, winning that league's title in 1938. Under the Martin brothers — J. B., W. S., and B. B. Martin — the club owned its own ballpark, Martin Stadium, a rarity that freed it from leasing white-owned parks. Sound management carried the club through thirty-nine years of continuous operation until it disbanded in 1959; country singer Charley Pride pitched for Memphis in the early 1950s before his music career.

Notes

STAGED 2026-10-16 (747 Program, Named Remainders & Further Gaps, Batch A) — not merged; awaits founder merge go. Gate A: PASS — no graph record under the name. Peer model: Negro American League (CTL-E-5517), Organization/other, BCI-001. Conflicts SHOWN, not blended: founding is given as 1920 under Arthur P. Martin (club history), 1923 under the Martin brothers (MiLB), and organized by R. S. Lewis with a Martin purchase in 1924 (Black History Heroes account) — the description reports all three rather than choosing; the era field carries 1920–1959 per the fullest club history. Cessation: disbanded 1959 (club history; Martin Stadium tenant dates end 1959) vs. 'hanging on until 1960' (Ebbets) — 1959 carried, conflict noted here. The Beacon Journal's claim that the 1937 Cincinnati Tigers 'became' the Memphis Red Sox is a single-source lineage and is NOT wired as an edge (no Organization succession type exists in the schema). Edges staged: member_of to CTL-E-5517 (Negro American League). Map: N/A. Photo: HELD. MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Organization/team records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions) | visual_assets = HELD: No file-page-level PHOTO-001 license verification completed at staging; slot held rather than filled with an u | chart = FILLED (CTL-created timeline built only from this record's sourced facts.) | video = HELD (No CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map catalog (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 entries, searched by name st) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging; slot held with reason.)

Relationships

• Negro American League — member of
  The Red Sox were a charter member of the Negro American League in 1937 and won its title in 1938, remaining members until the club disbanded (MiLB.com; Wikipedia). member_of (Organization→Organization) is the matrix-legal wiring for league membership.

Referenced by

• Dan Bankhead — played for → this record

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'Memphis Red Sox' — active 1920–1959; originally the Barber College Baseball Club, owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin; Martin brothers (J. B., W. S., B. B.) purchased the club in the late 1920s and held it to dissolution in 1959; thirty-nine years of continuous operation; league titles 1938; ballparks included Martin Stadium (1923–59), accessed 2026-10-16 (build store)
• Minor League Baseball (MiLB.com), 'Memphis Red Sox Night' (The Nine) — 'founded in 1923 by J. B. Martin and Dr. B. B. Martin' (CONFLICTS with the 1920/Arthur P. Martin account — shown, not blended); charter member of the Negro American League in 1937; won a title in 1938; Martin Stadium at Lewis Park, accessed 2026-10-16 (primary source · build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Martin Stadium (Memphis)' — park built in 1923 by team owner Robert S. Lewis as Lewis Park; Red Sox tenants 1923–1959; one of the few Negro league teams to own their own stadium; sold in 1960 and demolished in 1961, accessed 2026-10-16 (build store)
• Ebbets Field Flannels, 'Memphis Red Sox 1944' team history — began play in 1921 in the Negro Southern League; NAL charter member 1937; Charley Pride pitched for Memphis in 1952; club survived integration until 1960 (cessation year CONFLICTS with 1959 — see notes), accessed 2026-10-16 (build store)

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Record CTL-E-5775 · Combined Graph record U-07038 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 4 sources · 2 mapped relationships.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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