Virne Beatrice (Mitchell) Gilbert (1912 - 1987)

Born 29 Aug 1912 in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Died 7 Jan 1987 at age 74 in Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa County, Georgia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Nan Starjak [send private message]

Biography

Jackie (Mitchell) Gilbert was born in Appalachia, in Tennessee.

Jackie (Mitchell) Gilbert is Notable.

Virne Beatrice Mitchell was born on 29 Aug 1912 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her parents, Joseph S. Mitchell and his wife Virne Beatrice (Wall) Mitchell lived in the city, at 802 George Street.^[1] In 1920, the census shows the family was renting a home on Vance Street. Joseph (29) worked as an optician. His household included his wife Verne (29); their two daughters, Verne B. (Jackie, 7), and Nora J. (5); and his brother-in-law, Terry F. Wall (26) who worked with him. Jackie attended school.^[2] Shortly after this, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Their neighbor, Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance, at the time played baseball for the Memphis Chicks, but would later become the strikeout king of the National League.^[3] Dazzy is credited with teaching Jackie to pitch.^[4][5]

By 1930 the family had returned to Chattanooga. The census that year shows Joe (40) owned a home on 4th Street valued at $7500, and the family had a radio. Joe had an optical store, and his wife Virne (42) worked as a hosiery saleslady. Daughters Beatrice (Jackie, 17) and Josephine (15) attended school.^[6] Jackie played for a women's team, the Engelettes. Her father, who had once played professional ball for the Cotton States league, was the team's coach.^[7][8]

In the spring of 1931, Jackie attended Norman Arthur "Kid" Elberfeld's baseball camp in Atlanta, Georgia. Elberfeld had started his school three years earlier working with children, but by the spring of 1931 it had developed into a professional training ground including some students who were already professional players. Jackie was the first woman to attend.^[4]

Jackie played baseball for the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) in 1931.

Shortly after, Jackie was signed as a pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts, a Southern Association AA team, by owner Joe Engel on 25 March 1931.^[9] As a southpaw, she was noted for her curving sinker, or "drop ball," that had an "odd, side-armed delivery." Her pitches were known for being fast and accurate, and "her knack at guessing the weakness of a batter [was] uncanny."^[4] Several newspapers of the time named her as professional baseball's first female.^[7] She had actually been preceded in 1898 by Elizabeth Stride, better known as Lizzie Arlington.^[10]

Jackie first took the mound in an exhibition game against the Yankees on 2 April 1931. After striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in seven pitches, she walked Tony Lazzeri and was retired to the bench for the remainder of the game.^[11] Many newswriters immediately implied her feat should be attributed to gentlemenly behavior on the part of Ruth and Gehrig.^[12][13] Later baseball scholars would argue that Joe Engel's frequent publicity pranks were proof the strikeouts had been a hoax. Both Lazerri and Mitchell denied anything but honest effort on their parts. Neither Ruth, Gehrig nor Engel ever commented.^[11]

Jackie's contract with the Lookouts is said to have been voided by MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis days later, but no official documentation of this has been found.^[9] There is, however, no evidence that she played again for the Lookouts. She was moved to the roster of the Junior Lookouts, and later played for various low-level leagues and barnstorming teams.^[11] She retired from baseball in 1937.^[14]

In 1940, Virne Mitchell (Jackie's mother, 52) was listed as married and head of household, though Joe was not present in the home on Oak Street. Virne B. (Jackie, 28) had completed 4 years of high school, and worked as an optician's helper. Her sister Josephine Nora (25) had completed 1 year of college and worked as a stenographer in an optical store.^[15] The sisters were presumably working for their father.

Jackie later married, but the Gilberts had no known children.^[8] She died in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia in 1987 and is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee.^[16][17]

Media Links

• Video footage of Jackie striking out Babe Ruth on YouTube (at about 4:20).

Sources

1. ↑ "Tennessee Births and Christenings, 1828-1939," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6G4-ZRQ : 15 Aug 2021), Verne Beatrice Mitchell, 1912; Chattanooga,Tennessee, United States.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN5W-TX8 : 15 Aug 2021), Virne B Mitchell, Jr in entry for Joseph F Mitchell, citing ED 194, Chattanooga Ward 11, Hamilton, Tennessee,1920.
3. ↑ Dazzy Vance, Baseball Hall of Fame, accessed via baseballhall.org 2 Oct 2021.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} The Bismarck Tribune (Bismarck, ND), 02 April 1931, page 13, column 5. Accessed via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress; https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042243/1931-04-02/ed-1/seq-13/ 2 Oct 2021.
5. ↑ Zack Harold, Jackie Mitchell Couldn't Win, 28 Mar 2018, accessed via Lapham's Quarterly and archived at The Wayback Machine 29 Sep 2021.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SP4W-G81 : accessed 15 August 2021), V Beatrice Mitchell in household of Joe S Mitchell, Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 42, sheet 6B, line 92, family 143, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2251; FHL microfilm 2,341,985.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} The Waterbury Democrat (Waterbury, CT) 10 Apr 1931, page 22, columns 1-4. Accessed via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress; https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014085/1931-04-10/ed-1/seq-22/ 2 Oct 2021.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Kate Harrison Belz, The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth, accessed via the Chattanooga Memory Project and archived at The Wayback Machine 29 Sep 2021.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Cathy Pickles, "Baseball’s Unsung Heroines,” 9 April 2012 and Elissa Blatmann, “Historical Women Who Rocked: Jackie Mitchell,” 2 April 2013; updated and republished by Kenna Howat, "Jackie Mitchell and the Bloomer Girls," 27 Jun 2017; accessed via the National Women's History Museum and archived to the Wayback Machine, 2 Oct 2021.
10. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 4). Lizzie Arlington. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:01, October 2, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lizzie_Arlington&oldid=1015969822
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Adam Doster, The Myth of Jackie Mitchell, the Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig, The Daily Beast, 18 May 2013; accessed and archived at The Wayback Machine 14 Aug 2021.
12. ↑ Evening Star (Washington, DC) 3 April 1931, page A-8, column 3; Accessed via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1931-04-03/ed-1/seq-8/ 1 Oct 2021.
13. ↑ Imperial Valley Press (El Centro, CA) 03 April 1931, page 8, column 4. Accessed via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92070146/1931-04-03/ed-1/seq-8/ 1 Oct 2021.
14. ↑ Dan Holmes, When Jackie Mitchell Struck out Ruth, Gehrig, 15 Feb 2007; accessed via The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum at The Wayback Machine 2 Oct 2021.
15. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4HP-KJV : 15 Aug 2021), Virne B Mitchell in household of Virne Mitchell, Civil District 1, Hamilton, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 96-29, sheet 14A, line 36, family 327, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3952.
16. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JPBT-TZ7 : 15 Aug 2021), Virne Gilbert, Jan 1987; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
17. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 24 August 2021), memorial page for Jackie Mitchell (29 Aug 1912–7 Jan 1987), Find A Grave: Memorial #8151311, citing Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Jackie Mitchell
• Wikidata: Item Q18729185, en:Wikipedia
• John Banks, The 18-Year-Old Woman Who Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, accessed via History.com 18 Oct 2021.