Timelines: The Waterville Panthers Became New England Champs

Authors

Ronald Joseph

Source

Down East

Date

3-2020

Pages

50-52

Abstract

In 1944, the Waterville Purple Panthers high school basketball team, composed mostly of children of immigrants -- Lebanese, Irish, French-Canadian, Jewish -- won the New England championship. Along the way, they encountered racist slurs and antagonism. The team's point guard, John Mitchell, for example, was the son of a woman who emigrated from Lebanon. (His younger brother was George, who would go on to become a U.S. Senator.) The team helped to change people's attitudes about race and ethnicity.

Subjects

Basketball teams -- Maine, Immigrants -- Maine, Racism in sports

Recommended Citation

Joseph, Ronald, "Timelines: The Waterville Panthers Became New England Champs" (2020). Maine News Index - Down East Magazine. 5356.
https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/news_downeast/5356