The Chicago Studebaker Flyers (also known as the Chicago Studebakers) were a National Basketball League

National Basketball League (United States)

Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America  to form the National Basketball Association  in 1949.- League history :The...

 team from 1942 to 1943. They were funded by the United Auto Workers

United Auto Workers

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...

 and replaced George Halas

George Halas

George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...

' Chicago Bruins

Chicago Bruins

The Chicago Bruins were an American basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois that was a member of the American Basketball League. The Bruins later played in the National Basketball League and World Professional Basketball Tournament....

, who folded in 1942.

During the 1942–1943 NBL season, the Studebakers and the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets became the first teams in the league to integrate

Racial integration

Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...

. The Studebakers did so by signing six former Harlem Globetrotters

Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...

: Tony Peyton

Tony Peyton

Charles Anthony "Tony" Peyton was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. In the early 1940s, the Globetrotters played and defeated many of the country's top professional basketball teams....

, Duke Cumberland, Bernie Price, Sonny Boswell

Sonny Boswell

Wyatt "Sonny" Boswell was an early African American professional basketball player. He was born in Greenville, Mississippi and grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he attended Scott High School. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1939 to 1942.Boswell was known for taking long distance trick...

, Roosie Hudson, and Hillary Brown. Though some claimed that the former Globetrotters experienced racism from their white teammates, coach Johnny Jordan insisted that "there was no strife", adding, "All the blacks were treated well by players and fans. People knew the Globetrotters were great ballplayers. They were well received."