City honors history makers during Black History Month
Feb. 9—LENOIR — In celebration of Black History Month, the city of Lenoir is honoring Black American history makers from Caldwell County via several social media posts throughout the month of February.
The second post in this series was published Wednesday, Feb. 8 and celebrates Black athletes from Lenoir and Caldwell County. In 1969, Joseph "Mickey" Hickerson II, from Lenoir, was a three-lettered athlete for Lenoir High School and the first Black student athlete to play on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels baseball team.
"Black Ink," a Black student movement newsletter at UNC Chapel Hill, published an article about Hickerson in September 1971, titled "Coach Lovingood on Mickey Hickerson," written by Sports Reporter Gail Brandon.
"A junior from Lenoir, North Carolina, Mickey Hickerson is unusual in the fact that he is the first Black to be on a baseball team at UNC. He is not incapable of playing in the least. His skill fits right in with his other teammates. Though Mickey is only an average hitter and thrower, he has exceptional speed. Besides being one of the team's best players, Mickey Hickerson is respected not only by his teammates, but also by his opponents. Mickey has no definite plans for professional baseball, but he definitely has the potential."
The Daily Tar Heel covered many of Hickerson's games in 1972. On Aug. 29, 1972, in an article titled, "UNC-Wilmington captures playoffs," Hickerson reportedly hit a three-run homer that helped his team win with a final score of 7-4.
Later in that same article, former head coach Walter Rabb is quoted as saying, "Second baseman Mickey Hickerson played very well the last third of the season."
After he played Little League baseball at Freedman with no other level for him to play in Lenoir, Hickerson's parents, Milton and Alyce Hickerson, sent him to Buffalo, New York.
There, he was allowed to play in Main Filmore and Fairy Little League.
In 1973, Hickerson was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. He is in the Baseball Hall of Honor at UNC Boshamer Baseball Stadium. His academic career culminated with a Master's degree in Public Policy from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Before retirement, Hickerson worked for 31 years in personnel management for the state of Connecticut.
He currently resides in Charlotte with his wife, Ida.
Arthur Horton, a local retired police officer, recalled that Hickerson's mother was a Caldwell County educator who actually taught Horton himself. Lester Whittington, manager of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Lenoir, was also one of her students.
The city's staff will continue to update this story and more on the city website (cityoflenoir.com) as new posts are published. Be sure to follow the City of Lenoir on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see new posts throughout Black History Month.
