The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league team; however in the brief period they played as a major Negro league team, they won the second half pennant of the Negro American League in 1938 but lost the play-off for the overall season title. Beginnings The Atlanta Black Crackers were founded as the Atlanta Cubs as a semiprofessional team of black college students. They began to play independently in 1919 and changed their name to the Black Crackers because fans had already begun to call them by that name. They were named after the local white league team, the Atlanta Crackers, of the Class A Southern Association. It was not unusual for white and Negro league teams to have similar names, but in this case "Cracker" happened to be a colloquial and pejorative nickname for rural southern Whites. League play Negro Southern League The Black Crackers joined the minor league Negro Southern League (NSL) in March 1920. Their uniforms, bats, baseballs, and other supplies were donated by their white Southern Association counterpart, the Atlanta Crackers. They were slated to play the 1921 season in the newly formed Negro Southeastern League under the Cubs moniker, however no records have been found of the league playing a season; they instead continued competing as the Black Sox in the NSL. From 1922 through 1925, the Black Crackers played an independent barnstorming schedule and did not participate in any league play. After taking a two year hiatus, the NSL re-grouped for the 1926 season and Atlanta was included in the league schedule for 1926 and 1927. When the NSL again went on hiatus in 1928, the Black Crackers returned to barnstorming. In 1929, Atlanta returned to the NSL, this time known as the Grey Sox, however after the season they returned to barnstorming. By 1932, the Great Depression had decimated the profits of most Negro league teams and only a few organized Negro leagues survived. Atlanta had trouble profiting on their own causing them to go back to playing a league schedule. The NSL was considered the highest quality surviving league and it therefore became the de facto major league for the 1932 season and was the only organized league to complete their full