Bibbs, Junius A.

Junius Bibbs was born in Henderson, KY. He attended high school in Terre Haute, IN and college at Indiana State University, where he was a star football and baseball player. As a baseball player in the Negro Leagues, where he was also known as Rainey and Sonny, he played shortstop and first, second, and third base; his career began in 1933 with the Detroit Stars and finished in 1944 with the Cleveland Buckeyes. Bibbs was a good line-drive hitter, hitting to all fields; in 1936, he hit .404. Bibbs joined the Kansas City Monarchs in 1938, and the team went on to win three Negro American League pennants, 1939-1941. After his baseball career, Bibbs taught and coached at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, IN. In 1998, Bibbs was inducted into the Indiana State University Hall of Fame.  For more see The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, by J. A. Riley.

Additional information provided by Rebecca Bibbs 11/16/2012: Junius Bibbs was a football star at Indiana State Teachers College [now Indiana State University] in 1935 and was thought to be the only African American playing football at the collegiate level in the state of Indiana. In 2011, Junius Bibbs was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. See R. Rose article "Indiana Hall of Famer Junius Bibbs put education first," Indianapolis Recorder, 07/21/2011 [online]. Junius Bibbs was the son of Lloyd and Catherine Carr Bibbs and the grandson of Maria Carr.