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WHEREAS, Charles Henry “Chuck” Cooper was born September 29th, 1926 in Pittsburgh, PA. He was the son of Daniel and Emma Cooper. He graduated from Westinghouse High School in 1944; and,
WHEREAS, Out of high school, Cooper enrolled at the historically Black West Virginia State College, but he left school after just one semester to proudly serve his country in the Navy at the tail-end of World War II. Following his tour of duty, Cooper returned to Pittsburgh to attend Duquesne University; and,
WHEREAS, Cooper made his NBA debut in the Celtics season opener on November 1, 1950, scoring seven points. Due only to the fact that Earl Lloyd’s Washington Capitols opened their season one day earlier, Cooper missed the distinction of being the first Black player to play in an NBA game by one day; and,
WHEREAS, Cooper was elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. Duquesne University has honored him by awarding the ‘Chuck Cooper Award’ to a talented underclassman since 1983, retiring his jersey in 2001, playing a ‘Chuck Cooper Classic’ game each season since the 2009-10 season, naming a building on campus, the ‘Chuck Cooper Building’, after him in 2011, and naming him as an automatic selection to its All-Century Team in 2016; and,
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend Chuck Cooper for breaking down color barriers through the game of basketball; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Monday, November 25, 2019, to be “Chuck Cooper Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.