“When I arrived in Pittsburgh I was hired by Jim Lewis who was the general manager of the Courier. I started out covering the Pirates and the Steelers. Then one day Jim came to me and said, ‘Ulish, we need you to help Bill Nunn put together the Black College All-American team.’ “I was awe struck; Bill Nunn, I get to work with Bill Nunn? Another reason that I was so much in awe was that I came from Champaign, IL a small middle class town, so coming to Pittsburgh was great. My hometown did not have a professional sports team so covering the Pirates and the Steelers even though the Steelers had not won anything at that point it still was a big deal to me.”
Things were changing in Pittsburgh and across America but many things remained the same. In 1973 the draft prowess of Bill Nunn Jr. was just beginning to reap dividends for the Black and Gold. However, the 1973 draft class was historically uneventful except for the Steelers 1st round draft choice, a young fast defensive back out of Florida State named J.T. Thomas whose contributions would be critical during the “Steel Curtain” era. However, even though one of Ulish Carter’s idols Wendell Smith now had general press box access almost anywhere in America, the fortress of racism continued to stand tall and steadfast in Pittsburgh; although he did not experience the obstacles with the Steelers as far as access was concerned he had problems with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I initially had a problem with access as far as covering the Pirates. They didn’t want me in the locker room. The daily reporters could go in the locker room but I couldn’t go in. One day I was standing outside of the clubhouse and [ex-Pirates outfielder] Al Oliver came through. At the time Al’s father-in-law was writing a column for the Courier. Al came to me and asked me, ‘why are you standing out here?’ I said, ‘well they won’t let me in the locker room.” He asked, “Why not you work for the Courier, don’t you?” I said, “yeah.” “Let me talk to some people,” he said as he was walking away. He talked with some people and I never had any more problems with the Pirates.”
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741.)
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