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Forty-five years before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball鈥檚 color barrier, Lowell native became the first Black professional basketball player.

While Robinson is remembered as one of the most important figures of the 20th century, Lew is but a historical footnote.

That鈥檚 starting to change, however, thanks in part to a 51视频 alum.

In 1902, an 18-year-old Lew made history when he took the court with Lowell鈥檚 Pawtucketville Athletic Club of the New England Basketball League, becoming the first Black professional player in the country.

Twenty years later, Lew made history again when he became basketball coach at Lowell Textile School (now 51视频), making him the first Black coach of an integrated college basketball team.

As part of Black History Month, the university will honor Lew鈥檚 legacy during the UML men鈥檚 basketball game on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Costello Athletic Center. One of Lew鈥檚 granddaughters, Wendy Johnson, plans to be there. So does English alum Chris Boucher 鈥�93, who last year published a book about Lew, 鈥�.鈥澛�

鈥淗e was the first, and he went through hard times to do it, so our family is very proud of that,鈥� says Johnson, who has fond memories of her grandfather while growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, where Lew spent the last 35 years of his life. He died in 1963 at the age of 79.聽

One of her favorite memories is of their Saturday morning walks together to the bakery for sugar cookies, followed by a visit to the Six Corners Cafe.

鈥淗e鈥檇 put me up on a barstool and I鈥檇 have my Coke. And then it was always, 鈥榊ou're not going to tell Nana where we were,鈥欌�� Johnson recalls with a smile.

But Lew rarely talked about his basketball days, which began at the Lowell YMCA in 1898 鈥� just seven years after James Naismith invented the game in Springfield.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if he was being shy, or if he was just happy that he鈥檇 been able to play,鈥� Johnson says. 鈥淪ometimes, he told us how he got called names and took punches, and he took it in stride because he loved the game. That was one thing he did tell me to do: When you get something you like, stick to it, no matter how hard it might be.鈥�

Lew is descended from a long line of history-makers. His great-great-grandfather, , was born a free Black man in Groton, Massachusetts; he served in the Revolutionary War and played the fife at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. One of Barzillai鈥檚 daughters, , was a civil rights activist in Boston who helped integrate the city鈥檚 schools in 1855.

Bucky Lew鈥檚 grandparents, Adrastus Lew and Elizabeth Freeman, built a home at 89 Mount Hope St. in Lowell鈥檚 Pawtucketville neighborhood, just two blocks from UML鈥檚 North Campus, that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. His father, William, was a delegate to the 1891 Equal Rights Convention in Boston.

Bucky Lew was the oldest of four children. In 1914, his sisters and Marion Scott Lew became the first African Americans to graduate from the Lowell Normal School (now 51视频). Teresa became the first Black teacher in Lowell public schools and the first Black person 鈥� and woman 鈥�- to earn a law degree from Portia Law School in Boston (now New England School of Law).

His brother, , moved to Chicago and co-founded the DuSable Museum, the oldest museum in the country dedicated to Black history, culture and art. One of its artifacts is the powder horn that Barzillai played in the American Revolution.

鈥淭he Lew family was in Lowell before Lowell was Lowell,鈥� notes Boucher, who grew up in the same Pawtucketville neighborhood as the Lews 鈥� which was part of Dracut until 1874.

An avid basketball player himself, Boucher first learned about Bucky Lew just two years ago. After reading a book about Jewish basketball players in the early 1900s, Boucher wanted to explore the game鈥檚 ethnic roots in Lowell. He discovered that the Pawtucketville Athletic Club team had several players of his own French-Canadian descent 鈥� as well as one Black player.

鈥淚 was stunned. Even though I鈥檓 a basketball fan, I really didn鈥檛 know anything about the sport between its invention in 1891 and the creation of the NBA in the late 鈥�40s. I wanted to learn as much as I could,鈥� says Boucher, who headed to the to dig into Lew鈥檚 story.

To Boucher鈥檚 surprise, little had been written about him.聽

鈥淭here were a few footnotes about his accomplishments, but not a lot of detail,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I saw the depth of his career and all that he accomplished 鈥� not only as a player and coach, but also as a referee and franchise owner 鈥� I knew this could be a book.鈥�

Boucher, who had already penned two basketball-themed young adult novels, spent about six months researching and writing his 200-page biography of Lew, which came out last May.

鈥淚t became an obsession of sorts,鈥� says Boucher, who spent three to four hours a day on the book 鈥� on top of his day job as an instructional designer at Imprivata, a software company.

One of the people he interviewed was UML Professor Emeritus of English Gerard O鈥機onnor, whose father Dan had played with Lew. O鈥機onnor passed away in December at the age of 88.聽

Boucher also visited some of the New England towns where Lew played with semi-pro teams after the New England Basketball League folded in 1905. On a recent visit to UML, Boucher saw the former Lowell Textile basketball court on the fourth floor of Southwick Hall, where Lew coached. The space was recently converted to the Lowell Advanced Robotics Initiative (LARI) Laboratory, but some of the original basketball court lines are still visible on the hardwood floors.

Boucher also donated some of his book鈥檚 proceeds to help fund a plaque in Bucky Lew鈥檚 honor at the Lowell YMCA. Johnson attended the plaque鈥檚 unveiling last November with her daughter, Kiah.

鈥淚t was fantastic,鈥� says Johnson, who works as an X-ray tech and lives in Milton, Massachusetts. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much in our family history, and I tell my daughter you have to learn as much as you can and pass things along.鈥澛�

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to dust off his memory a little bit and see that he still has living family members who care and want him to get that recognition,鈥� says Boucher, who is also helping to organize a Juneteenth celebration in Lew鈥檚 honor this summer at Lowell鈥檚 Muldoon Park.

Despite his place in basketball history, Lew has yet to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

鈥淚 think they don鈥檛 know the extent of his accomplishments,鈥� says Boucher, who hopes the recognition that Lew is starting to receive in his hometown of Lowell can help change that.

鈥淚t would be wonderful if we could get a little something about him in the Hall of Fame,鈥� Johnson says. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad that Chris took the time to write the book and to follow through on the plaque. And to see what 51视频 is doing for us, it鈥檚 just wonderful.鈥�