HR74INTRODUCED
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HR74
FKA11C5-1
By Representatives Sellers, Givan, Datcher, Tillman, Rafferty,
Hendrix, Hollis
RFD:
First Read: 18-Feb-25
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6 FKA11C5-1 02/14/2025 LMG (L)lmg 2025-824
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First Read: 18-Feb-25
HR____ CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF REVEREND WILLIAM HENRY
GREASON.
WHEREAS, with special pleasure, we offer joyful
felicitations to Reverend William Henry "Bill" Greason, who
is celebrating his milestone 100th birthday; and
WHEREAS, Bill Greason was born on September 3, 1924,
in Atlanta, Georgia; the middle child of James and Lizi
Greason's five children, he grew up across the street from
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Auburn Avenue, now known as
the Sweet Auburn Historic District, which was an African
American neighborhood in segregated Atlanta; and
WHEREAS, in 1943, he entered the United States Marine
Corps during World War II and completed basic training at
Montford Point in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; he served
honorably with the 66th Supply Platoon, an all-Black unit,
in the Pacific Theater of Operations, where he took part in
the Battle of Iwo Jima; and
WHEREAS, after the war, Bill Greason enjoyed a
distinguished career as a baseball player; he was an ace
right-handed pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons from
1948 to 1950, where he was a teammate of Willie Mays; in
1948, he won two games in the playoffs against the Kansas
City Monarchs, helping the Black Barons win the Negro
American League pennant; and against the Homestead Grays, in
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American League pennant; and against the Homestead Grays, in
the last Negro League World Series ever played, he defeated
the soon-to-be champion to claim Birmingham's lone victory
in the five-game series; and
WHEREAS, Bill Greason later pitched for the St. Louis
Cardinals, where he would become the team's second African
American player; he went on to play eight years in the high
minors, and retired after the 1959 season; and
WHEREAS, after his baseball days, Bill Greason
studied for the ministry at Birmingham Baptist Bible College
and Samford University; he became a member of the 16th
Street Baptist Church, where he met his beloved wife, Willie
Otis Underwood, whom he married in 1953 and remained devoted
to until her passing in 2018; in 1971, he was called as the
pastor of Birmingham's historic Bethel Baptist Church, and
he continued to preach into 2023; and
WHEREAS, in 2011, Bill Greason was presented with a
lifetime achievement award at the annual Alabama Black
Achievement Awards Gala; in 2012, the Montford Point
Marines, including Reverend Greason, were awarded a group
Congressional Gold Medal; and
WHEREAS, at 100 years of age, he is the oldest living
veteran of the Negro Leagues; in 2020, the players who
played in the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1948 were
recognized as official Major Leaguers, with their stats and
records becoming a part of Major League History; and
WHEREAS, by achieving success on the baseball field,
African-American baseball players, such as Reverend Bill
Greason, helped break down color barriers and integrate
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Greason, helped break down color barriers and integrate
African-Americans into all aspects of society in the United
States; and
WHEREAS, as a U.S. Marine, pioneering baseball
player, civil rights activist, pastor, husband, father, and
grandfather, Reverend Greason is a quintessential American;
he has said that he has no regrets and thanks God for the
direction of his life; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, That Reverend Bill Greason is hereby
celebrated for reaching his milestone 100th birthday, and we
commend him for his many lifetime achievements, commitments,
sacrifices, and contributions to baseball, his community,
and our country; we joyfully dedicate this resolution to him
with utmost gratitude and admiration, along with sincere
wishes for many more happy and healthy birthdays to come.
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