KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. — The idea of erecting a statue of the late New York Yankees pitcher Herb Pennock, by far the most famous person ever born in this Quaker community of 5,200, carried the wallop of a grand-slam home run.
The town's Historical Commission readily agreed that the man known in baseball circles as the "Squire of Kennett Square" was the perfect symbol for the town. A fund-raising drive offered limited-edition baseball cards of the Hall of Famer, who had a 240-162 lifetime record and helped lead the 1927 Yankees--some say the greatest baseball team ever--to a World Series victory.
But the town's enthusiasm for the memorial flagged when a charge of racism surfaced. Word spread around town that Pennock, as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947, had uttered a racial slur in describing Jackie Robinson, who broke major league baseball's color line that year, and had tried to block Robinson's first appearance as a player in Philadelphia.
The revelations split the town, notably its white residents. Even among Kennett Square's 600 black citizens, opinions were poles apart. Toyge Davis, 33, who is black and heads the town's Parks and Recreation Department, opposes a monument to Pennock.
"A statue is supposed to be representative of the total community," he said. "This statue wouldn't be representative of African Americans because he tried to keep Jackie Robinson out of baseball."
But Mayor Charles S. Cramer, who is 73 and African American, sided with other city leaders, arguing that Pennock was still the biggest name in town and that it would be unfair to hold him to today's standards.
"Back in that time, a lot of people made racial remarks," Cramer said.
As town leaders ponder whether to proceed or drop the matter, the controversy is pushing Kennett Square--like many multiracial communities in America--to examine one aspect of the interplay of race and history: Can respected accomplishments in one field outweigh dubious personal values in determining what makes a hero? Is it fair or possible to hold an individual accountable by contemporary standards for behavior that was typical in another era?
Kennett Square is only the latest locality to find itself in racial torment over flawed heroes. Even Thomas Jefferson, the intellectual spirit of the Declaration of Independence, has been criticized for owning slaves and for allegedly having a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings, a slave.
