Chatham Coloured All-Stars Mini Comic

Part of the intent of the Telling the Stories of Race and Sport in Canada project was to get to the vital and compelling stories of race and sport to as many people as possible. To this end, the project team collaborated with cartoonist and graphic novelist Scott Chantler to bring the story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars to school children in Ontario in the form of a 10-page mini comic called All Stars: The True Story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars.

Written and illustrated by Scott Chantler with historical consultation by Dr Heidi Jacobs and Dr Miriam Wright (University of Windsor), this comic tells the story of the first Black team to win the Ontario Baseball Amateur Association championship in 1934. Click here to read more about the Chatham Coloured All-Stars. 

Since All Stars was launched in the spring of 2019, several thousand copies of the comic were distributed free to schools, classes, and libraries in Southern Ontario. We are grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their help in bringing this compelling and important story to a new generation of Canadians.

In addition to creating the All Stars comic, the research team also enlisted comics scholar Dr Dale Jacobs (English, University of Windsor) to contribute to a "Teachers’ Guide to All-Stars: The True Story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars." This guide has classroom approaches and strategies as well as historical context. The Teachers’ Guide can be downloaded freely here.

Copies of Scott Chantler’s All Stars: The True Story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars are available for purchase from the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society. All proceeds from the sale of All-Stars: The True Story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars go to support the excellent educational work of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society.