Collection: SMART SET ATHLETIC CLUB

The Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn was founded in 1904 and is credited with assembling the first formally organized fully independent African American basketball team, which debuted in 1907. 

Location:Brooklyn, New York City Home Court: 14th Regiment Armory Nickname:“The Grave Diggers” Colors:Carolina Blue, Navy, Light Gray Manager:J. Hoffman Woods Smart Set members came from a tight-knit clique of well-educated, affluent, “old-money” African Americans who resided in what was then the predominantly white Stuyvesant Heights section of Brooklyn. A collage of photographs relating to the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn.