{"id":224,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-09-28 20:30:05","latitude":35.77230999999999738747646915726363658905029296875,"longitude":-78.642097000000006801201379857957363128662109375,"title":"Pete Wilder and the Raleigh Grays","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/fullsize/a19c2d2d4d85d5e9762aeb87e1dc7b24.jpg","address":"McKee St.","all_locations":[],"zoom":19,"creator":["City of Raleigh"],"description":"Baseball was a favorite pastime for many children growing up in the Fourth Ward, where neighborhood teams played one another across Raleigh.  Wilbur Allen “Pete” Wilder, born on McKee Street, was one of those kids who fell in love with the game. He graduated with the first class of Washington High School in 1927 and later studied journalism locally at Shaw University, as well as at New York University and at Fordham University.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nWilder played baseball at Shaw and went on to pitch professionally in the Negro Leagues. In 1937, he founded the Raleigh Grays, a semi professional team who played at Shaw Alumni Field and later at Chavis Park. After World War II, he and Arthur Dove launched another team, the Raleigh Tigers, in 1946.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nWilder’s impact on Raleigh sports was long-lasting. He was inducted into the Shaw University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2010.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/fullsize/a19c2d2d4d85d5e9762aeb87e1dc7b24.jpg":{"id":1141,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Wilbert “Pete” Wilder, From Culture Town: Life in Raleigh’s African American Communities, by Linda Simmons-Henry and Linda Harris Edmisten, 1993.","description":"","thumbnail":"https://mail.raleighhistoric.org/files/square_thumbnails/a19c2d2d4d85d5e9762aeb87e1dc7b24.jpg"}}}