Explore Black History

after 1987

Founded in 1987, Ice Hockey in Harlem is a non-profit organization that gives roughly 250 children between the ages of 5 to 18 the opportunity to learn the game of ice hockey and participate in academic enrichment programs free of charge. Most of the program’s participants, who must be residents of Harlem or Upper Manhattan, are black and Hispanic. Ice Hockey in Harlem is one of several programs across the country, including the Fort Dupont program in Washington D.C., the Snider Hockey program in Philadelphia, and the Detroit Ice Dreams, focused on increasing black and minority participation in ice hockey. In this photograph, students from Ice Hockey in Harlem are shown with Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the National Hockey League.

Color photograph used by Ice Hockey in Harlem.
The landscape-oriented photograph features Willie O’Ree and three young boys sitting on a silver colored metal bench. Willie O’Ree is the second person in from the proper left side. He is wearing a dark colored shirt, a black zip-up jacket with a logo on the left shoulder, dark pants, and a white baseball cap with several logos on the front. He is smiling with his mouth open and the top of a hockey stick can be seen leaning against his proper left leg. The boy on the far proper right side is wearing a blue, red, and white hockey jersey. It reads [ICE HOCKEY] in red letters with a white outline. Below, it reads [IN Ha-l--] in white. The other letters in “Harlem” cannot be seen due to the folds in the jersey. He is wearing a black and white face mask with a white label on it. It reads [Joseph] in red handwriting. He is also wearing black, white, and read hockey gloves on both hands. The boy to his proper left side is wearing a white hockey jersey with red and blue details. He is wearing a white hockey mask with a white label that reads [MALIK] in black handwriting. He is wearing black hockey gloves with white text on both hands. He is holding a hockey stick with the top covered in blue tape. The boy on the proper far left side is wearing a blue jersey with red and white details. He has a black and white hockey mask. There is a white label on the mask with a name handwritten in red. He is not wearing gloves, but he is holding them on his lap and in his hand. They are black with red and white details. He is holding a black and white Bauer hockey stick in his proper right hand and it is covering part of his face. The background is dark, and a few blurred lights can be seen.
The back of the photograph is white with two repeated logos in diagonal lines. One logo is grey and reads [Kodak / PAPER] in two different fonts. The other is a rectangle with rounded corners. The inside of the rectangle reads [Kodak / PAPER] in two different fonts and there is a line drawing of a piece of paper with a corner folded over.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Photographs and Still Images

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ice Hockey in Harlem

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2019.74.3

hockey pucks

© Ice Hockey in Harlem
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper

H x W: 4 × 6 in. (10.2 × 15.2 cm)

Object Name • Color photograph of Willie O'Ree and Ice Hockey in Harlem players

nmaahc_2019.74.3

NMAAHC

COLOR PHOTOGRAPH OF WILLIE O'REE AND ICE HOCKEY IN HARLEM PLAYERS

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1980s

Ice Hockey in Harlem • O'Ree, Willie Eldon

New York City • Harlem • United States • North and Central America

Hockey • Recreation • Youth • Children • Urban life • Sports

Locale • Harlem • City • New York City • State • New York • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America

Images

Limited Use