St. Christopher Club

From Hoopedia

St. Christopher Club was an amateur basketball team in the early Twentieth Century. The team won or shared the designation Colored Basketball World's Champions four times (1914, 1917-19). They were also referred to as the "St. C.'s" and the "Red and Black Machine."

The basketball team, which began play in 1905, was one of many social events and athletic activities sponsored by the St. Christopher Club of St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church. These athletic events were opportunities for young men to engage in "muscular Christianity" to build a strong body and good character and to provide alternative pursuits to young men facing many challenges. While St. Philip's was the wealthiest Black church in New York (and possibly America), it was located in the infamous Tenderloin section of Manhattan, on West 25th Street, an African American community known for the white-owned attractions that catered to various sinful activities. In 1910 the Church moved to the suburbs, building a new building in Harlem and its parishioners followed. It remains on 134th Street to this day.

In 1907 they joined the Olympian Athletic League, which included rivals Alpha Physical Culture Club of Harlem and the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn.

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