Story of Wilfred (Boomer) Harding shared in online project

Some sports fans may already know his story, but a new project aims to ensure that a lot more people know all about the life of Wilfred (Boomer) Harding.

Harding's story starts more than a century ago. Born in 1915, he would grow up to be a multi-sport athlete, who often struggled to excel because he was black.

As a young man, he played for the Chatham Coloured All Stars, an all-black baseball team that won the Ontario Baseball Association championship in 1934.

He also later played hockey with the Windsor Staffords of the International Amateur Hockey League.

Harding, who died more than two decades ago, was inducted into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

The hall's website describes him as "an extraordinarily talented, all round athlete," who likely would have had a shot at a career in pro hockey or baseball, if he had been born at a later time.

Harding's life, along with its struggles and achievements, will be the focus of an online retrospective that is being put together by researchers at the University of Windsor.

'No one knew about it'

Miriam Wright, the head of the history department at the university, said Harding's story only came to her attention last year.

At a public event, she ended up meeting Harding's daughter-in-law, who told Wright about his impressive career and let her know they wanted help in getting his story preserved online.

"They felt it was an important story, but no one knew about it and they really wanted to make the story accessible, so that's why she approached me," Wright explained in a recent interview with CBC News.

Wright instantly saw the value in Harding's story and the need to share it with others.

To move that process along, Wright got in touch with Heidi Jacobs, a librarian at the University of Windsor, who helped set up the Leddy Library's Centre for Digital Scholarship.

The two are collaborating on the retrospective that will be a repository for information about Harding, including digital copies of documents and other materials that his surviving family members are providing. These materials include sports programs, letters, medals he won, as well as photographs of teams he played on and newspaper accounts of his achievements.

The retrospective is expected to be completed next year.

'He's a remarkable man'

Jacobs has found learning about Harding fascinating and she is wowed by his achievements and his versatility as an athlete.

"He's a remarkable man. He could have played professional baseball, he could have played professional hockey," Jacobs told CBC News in a recent interview. "He did track and field, he played basketball. In later life, he did horseshoes and darts."

Wright said Harding is also believed to have broken a barrier at the Detroit Olympia, when he played hockey there. And it was a place he had once been barred from skating as a private citizen before that happened.

Wright said Harding once told a newspaper reporter about that incident.

He said that he had gone to skate there on a day in which members of the public could take to the ice, but a man there wouldn't let him in. Harding tried to press the issue by pointing to a sign that indicated the rink was open.

"So he pointed to it and he said: 'It's open to the public,'" said Wright.

"And apparently the guy at the gate said: 'Well, that sign doesn't mean what you think it means."

Years later, Harding returned there when playing with the Windsor Staffords.

"He had become a member of this team and when he skated on the ice at the Detroit Olympia, he became basically the first black person to skate in that arena," said Harding.

Wright said Harding faced discrimination throughout his career, both in subtle and unsubtle ways. One example he pointed to was being put on the bench after scoring two goals in a game, a move that prevented him from having a shot at a hat trick.

"He sort of felt that that was sort of a very clear case of not being allowed to shine in a way that he might have been able to," said Wright.