William H. “Dixie” Matthews was considered one of the finest athletes Rhode Island has ever produced. He was born in Providence on Dec. 2, 1908, son of Charles and Mary Matthews. He was an incredible all-around athlete who excelled at baseball, basketball, and football. He captained the basketball team at Technical High School, was an All-Rhode Island catcher for Tech in 1927 and 1928, and played end on the football team for three consecutive years (1925-27). At Providence College, he continued to star in both sports before becoming a prolific semi-pro player. He led the Dixie Matthews Colored All-Stars, Providence Colored All-Stars, the Royal Colored Giants barnstorming against leading outfits on the diamond, and the “Daddy” Blacks Colored Panthers basketball five.
He continued on the gridiron with the Natick Sacred Hearts and Providence Steam Roller. He played on the undefeated 1933 Providence Huskies eleven, the only team in the professional or semi-professional record books keeping their opponents from scoring a single point over the entire season. Fritz Pollard, the former Brown University football star, asked Weeden to join his new “Brown Bombers” team in 1935. The team was named to honor the young heavyweight boxing contender Joe Louis. Pollard agreed to coach the team because he was concerned about the failure of NFL owners to sign Black players. Pollard brought in former Chicago Cardinal halfback Joe Lillard as the centerpiece of the “Bomber” backfield and signed “Dixie” Matthews to help provide a potent offense. The team consisted of former Black stars from both white and Black Colleges. Scheduling only white professional teams from the northeast and playing their home games at Dyckman Ovalin in Upper Manhattan. The Bombers got off to a fast start. In the opening game, they humiliated a team organized by former Army All-America Chris Cagle. They demolished an all-star eleven led by Cliff Montgomery, who had quarterbacked Columbia to a Rose Bowl victory. After five games, the “Brown Bombers were undefeated. Pollard tried to schedule games with the local teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and The New York Giants, but neither team expressed interest in scheduling games. Pollard said years later that the two men responsible for keeping Blacks out of the NFL were Tim Mara, owner of the New York Giants, and George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears.
Pollard was a one-man gang in his effort to integrate college and professional American football. In 1916, while playing for Brown University, he was the first Black player to participate in what became known as the Rose Bowl. The same year, he became the first Black to be named to a backfield position on Walter Camp’s All-America team. He also became the first African American player to participate in the early NFL and became the first Black coach in the NFL. Pollard was inducted into The Rhode Heritage Hall of Fame in 1967.
Weeden starred at end for the Brown Bombers until the team folded for lack of attendance. He returned to Providence and took a civil service job working for the city. He became First Deputy City Clerk of Providence, the highest office ever held by an African American. “Dixie,” as he was known to all, was considered by the city’s African American community leaders as their “first but unofficial” City Councilman. Matthews retired after thirty-eight years of City employment. He was very active in both civic and political causes throughout his career.
He played a crucial role in successfully lobbying the city to change the name of Magee Street on Providence’s East Side to Banister Street. Magee was a famous slave trader, while Edward Bannister was a prominent Black artist. No group was harder hit than African Americans in Providence during the Depression. In some Northern cities, whites called for African Americans to be fired from any jobs as long as there were whites out of work. Racial violence again became more common, especially in the South.
Matthews was a trailblazer in the civil rights movement in Providence, using his platform to speak against racial injustice and segregation. He advocated for the inclusion and Fair treatment of African American players in professional sports, and his efforts with the “Brown Bombers” contributed significantly to the gradual integration of the NFL.
Matthews was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1956, 1963, 1964, and 1988. Eleanor Slater, a fellow delegate to all those conventions, recalled Matthews as an “energetic Black community leader when Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement were both young. Blacks were not allowed to stay at most hotels in those days, even though they were to help choose a future president of the United States. (Eleanor Slater was inducted into The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1982.)
Matthew’s induction into The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1985 was not just a recognition of his achievements in sports but a testament to his impact as a pioneer who challenged racial norms and opened doors for countless African Americans in sports and beyond.
For additional reading:
• Gerald R. Gems, “The Rise and Fall of Blacks in Professional Football,” Journal of Sports History, Annual, 1988.
• New York Amsterdam News, Nov. 2, 1935. J. Wayne Burrell, “Sports Whirl, New York Amsterdam News, Dec. 5, 1938.