The city of Concord marked a milestone this week with the unveiling of a historic marker dedicated to William Penn Thompson, a Black baseball player whose contributions to the sport echo through more than a century of American play.
Born in Virginia before 1891, Thompson moved to New Hampshire where he excelled in the Sunset League, famously known for his crisp white suit and signature top hat that made him a familiar sight on the diamond.
Local legend Robert ‘Conky’ O’Connell, now 97, recalls Thompson inviting him to pitch batting practice as a teenager, a moment that left an indelible impression on the community’s youngest athletes.
A Legacy in White Park
The ceremony, attended by Mayor Byron Champlin and JerriAnne Boggs, highlighted how Thompson’s story bridges the segregated past of baseball with the integrated present, underscoring the broader transition from exclusion to inclusion in American sports.
The marker, part of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire’s expansion into Concord, stands as the first such stop in the city, cementing Thompson’s place in a narrative that has long been overlooked.