Henry Walter "Slick" Schlichter (March 1, 1866 – January 15, 1944) was an American sports executive,

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

, and

boxing referee The referee in boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match. The role of the referee The referee has the following roles: *Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight *Determines when to start or ...

Career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, Schlichter wrote for the ''Philadelphia Item'', a daily newspaper. Along with National Baseball Hall of Famer

Sol White King Solomon White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for m ...

and ''

Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune ...

'' baseball writer Harry A. Smith, Schlichter co-founded the

Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol Whi ...

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

team. He owned the Giants until he disbanded the team in 1911. He also co-founded an early all-black baseball league, the

National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba The National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba was an early professional Negro baseball league that operated on the East Coast of the United States from 1907 to 1910. Founding The league, also called the Natio ...

, and served as its president from 1906 to 1909. Schlichter worked as a boxing referee from 1893 to 1910. He appears as the referee in

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

' 1898 painting ''Taking the Count''. He died on January 15, 1945, and was interred at

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is in size, and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in nearby Philadelphia. ...

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community and census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania and borders the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route ...

. File:Taking the Count by Thomas Eakins.jpeg, ''Taking the Count'' (1898) by Thomas Eakins,

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

. File:The Referee - Portrait of H Walter Schlichter.png, ''The Referee'' - Study for ''Taking the Count'' (1898) by Thomas Eakins,

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

References

External links

Referee information
1866 births 1944 deaths American boxing referees Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery Negro league baseball executives Sportswriters from Pennsylvania Writers from Philadelphia {{baseball-business-bio-stub