Alfred G. "Slick" Surratt (November 9, 1922 – February 15, 2010) was an American baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

in the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

, a

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

franchise based in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, from 1947 until 1952. Surratt later co-founded the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City in 1990. Surratt was born in

Danville, Arkansas Danville is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,409 at the 2010 census. Along with Dardanelle, it is one of two county seats for Yell County. Danville is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

. He moved to

, after eighth grade to live with his father. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, receiving an honorable discharge in 1946. In 1947, Surratt joined the Detroit Stars, another

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

team. He soon moved back to Kansas City in 1947, where he was a reserve outfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs until his retirement from the league in 1952. Surratt began working at the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

's assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri that same year. He continued to work for Ford at Claycomo for the next 51 years. Surratt was an original founding member of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which opened in Kansas City in 1990. He also served on the museum's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. Starting in the early 1990s, he became known as a raconteur of the Negro leagues. Surratt died at a nursing home in Kansas City on February 15, 2010, at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife, Tommie, and son, Alfred Surratt Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surratt, Alfred 1922 births 2010 deaths People from Danville, Arkansas Detroit Stars players Kansas City Monarchs players Museum founders Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people