Slam dunk: Carnegie Historical Society hosts Harlem Globetrotter
Photos: Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Jeff Keenan, secretary of the Carnegie Historical Society, welcomes Harlem Globetrotter Robert “Bob” Aston to the Sept. 10 event held in Aston’s honor. Aston donated four volumes of family history, which he meticulously researched and penned, to be part of a permanent display at the historical society.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Robert Aston chats with Dave and Phyllis Doran, both of Carnegie, Sept. 10, during a private event inside the Carnegie Historical Society. The Dorans were among about 70 family members, friends and former neighbors who gathered to celebrate the Aston family’s history and donation to the historical society.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
State Rep. Anita Kulik presents Robert Aston with a formal congratulatory citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Sept. 10 inside the Carnegie Historical Society.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
“When I was in second grade, my teacher, Ms. Cook, rang the school bell every morning at 8:00 sharp, and then again at 8:15. We all got used to hearing that, her ringing that bell. We came to expect it. After summer vacation, when we all returned back to school, we heard through the playground grapevine that Ms. Cook did not come back,” said Robert Aston during his keynote speech at Carnegie Historical Society Sept. 10. “As third-graders, our first thought was, ‘Who will ring the bell?’ I offered to ask myself that question. When I’m gone, who in this family will ring the bell? Storytelling is a key skill needed to write a successful family history.”
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Family members from across the U.S., friends and neighbors share a laugh during Robert Aston’s keynote speech Sept. 10.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Following the proclamation presentation and Robert Aston’s keynote speech, Aston laughs with attendees inside the Carnegie Historical Society. Though a two-time basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter who now calls Texas home, Aston maintains friendships with his Carnegie pals to this day.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Robert Aston and his wife, Phyllis, pose with Carnegie Historical Society president Dan McGrogan, right, and secretary Jeff Keenan, left, following a special event Sept. 10. Aston donated four volumes of family history to the society, to be part of a permanent display.
Robert “Bob” Aston learned to play baseball in the lot behind Carnegie’s historic Husler building, but it isn’t baseball that propelled him onto the national stage.
To sports fans and enthusiasts, Aston is best known as the superstar University of Toledo rebounder who played forward-center with the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1960s. To locals, he’s a member of the Aston family, whose roots run deep in Carnegie.
“Because my roots are here, I feel this closeness to Carnegie,” said Aston, the guest of honor at the Carnegie Historical Society’s Sept. 10 event, during which he was awarded a proclamation. “Today was a humbling experience for me.”
Surrounded by family members from across the U.S., friends and former neighbors, Aston received a formal citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, presented by Carnegie’s state Rep. Anita Kulik, for his contributions to the community.
“You have had a remarkable life,” Kulik said, “and the family has a great story to tell in this area. This family traces their roots in Carnegie back to 1866. The members of the extended family have contributed to society, to the various military services, sports accomplishments and success in business and commerce. Thank you for everything you and your family have done for this town that I love so much.”
The Aston and extended family is so remarkable, someone could write a book on them; in fact, the family’s history is detailed in four volumes meticulously researched and penned by Aston himself.
Aston donated the four volumes – “The Aston Family Photo History Book,” “Growing Up Carnegie,” “The Aston Family’s One Percenters II” and “Harlem Globetrotters II” – to the historical society, which will feature the genealogical records and histories in a permanent display.
“I’m both honored and proud to accept this prestigious proclamation recognition on behalf of the families represented in this room today,” Aston said. “Everything that we have achieved in our lives up until today, including this proclamation, are the results of the struggles and sacrifices of the family members in these books.”
The Aston family settled in the Pittsburgh area before the Civil War. Henry Aston was born in Old Allegheny City, now the North Shore, in 1827.
“Henry signed up to fight in the Civil War when he was 34 years old. During his time in the war, his regiment fought with Gen. Grant in Richmond, Va., when the Northern troops cut off the Southern supply lines and caused and forced Gen. Robert E. Lee to surrender Appomattox. Henry was there with his division or with his regiment,” Aston said.
Henry bought a piece of land in Carnegie for $20 after the war and built a home at 428 Jane St. In 1894, just after Mansfield Borough merged with Chartiers, Cora Aston became the first child born in the newly incorporated Carnegie Borough.
Cora was Aston’s aunt. Her brother Eddie is his father.
While the Lewises relocated to nearby McDonald, most Astons remained in Carnegie. Though Aston’s father was a humble man who cleaned local businesses – “My brother George cleaned this floor that I’m standing on. My dad cleaned the bank next door, and my brother next door to dad worked at Isaly’s, and I know everybody went in there to get chipped ham,” Aston laughed – he was also prominent in the community.
“He was a heavyweight boxer with a very impressive win-loss record,” Aston said. “He was the first African-American fight promoter in the tri-state area. We have quite a lineup of talented people in this family.”
Among the talents: five basketball Hall of Famers, “which is most unusual and most rare,” Aston said; a professor whose son is a pharmacist and whose daughter works in public administration; an accomplished dancer working in New York City; an Ebony fashion fair model; and a U.S. Navy photographer.
The family also claims George Aston Jr. as kin.
In the 1940s, George Aston Jr. worked as the first Black equipment manager in Major League Baseball. He was the first Black man to wear an official Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, 38 years before Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier.
Family narratives, which weave the stories of the Astons and Andersons and Carters together, and more, are included in the books donated by Aston to the Carnegie Historical Society.
“Our families are very, very unique. We’re unique because we’re one percentage of the U.S. population of the families who have a written history. We not only have a written history, but we have a written history (in the) historical society of Carnegie, soon to be a permanent display,” Aston said.
His own history is included between covers. Aston and his brother Joe Aston were all-star basketball players at Carlynton High School, where Joe’s team won the school’s first championship and Aston led the team to its last championship.
“We’re the record holders in high school for points scored,” Aston said.
Aston also had a stellar college career: he’s one of the best rebounders in Toledo Rocket’s history, and ranks fourth in all-time career boards, with 10.9 per game. In four games, Aston grabbed 20 or more boards in a game. He led the team in points per game, rebounds per game and field goal percentage the ’65-66 season, and served as captain his senior year.
After graduating in 1966, Aston was drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters and spent three years touring the world and playing alongside other greats (he himself is a Globetrotter Hall of Famer).
“My most memorable moment was the proud look on my mom and dad’s face when I introduced them to Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal after our game in Pittsburgh,” Aston told friends and family Sept. 10. “I gotta tell you, I was really proud that day. Some of you people were at that game. I could hear you all up in the stands, I could hear you. I heard my dad, for sure.”
While basketball has been his legacy, completing four volumes of family history has been a passion project for Aston, who thanked several family members for assisting with genealogical and other research.
“After he retired, he needed a project,” laughed Aston’s wife, Phyllis. “I’m really proud of what he did.”
Though he didn’t explicitly say it, Aston is proud, too – proud to be part of such an accomplished and respectable family and blessed to share that family’s history with others.
“It’s overwhelming. I think that something like this, it’s immeasurable,” he said, pointing to the proclamation as family and friends chatted around him. “A lot of genealogy and research work went into writing these history books. Parts of the story were handed down to me from family members. It’s so important that we pass this history on to the next generation.”