In addition to his Seattle jazz club images, photographer Al Smith also took photos of events important to the city’s Black community. The Nisei Japanese Veterans Association had sponsored a neighborhood Little League football team that was open to all. In 1952, the team, called the International Fighting Irish, won the city and Northwest district championships and headed off by train to play in the Western Regional Championship in Las Vegas. Parents and friends raised money for the 25-member team to go. Here, the players smile at their parents through the train car windows.

Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times: November 25, 1952, p. 25.