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equipment and uniforms, and started a team, the Dobkin
Dynamites, which she coached. In time the Mary Dobkin Athletic Club reached over 50,000 Baltimore children, and expanded to softball, basketball and football activities as well. Her youth sports programs were mainly supported by donations and benefactors, prominent among them Dr. Ralph and Ida Katz.
85:"I was the first manager to integrate a team, the first to play a girl, the first to coach three sports (baseball, basketball, and football), the first living person to have a playing field named for them, and now I'm the first to have my story told on TV," Dobkin noted of her many accomplishments, in 1979.
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Having spent most of her childhood in hospitals or other care homes, and without any family connections, Dobkin lived in relative poverty as an adult, in public housing in
Baltimore. She believed baseball could encourage the children in her neighborhood as it had done for her, so she raised funds for
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In 1941, Dobkin became the first woman to serve as
Baltimore's municipal baseball manager. In 1965, the Baltimore Orioles held a "Mary Dobkin Day" to honor the local coach for her work, and invited two of the boys involved in her programs to be honorary batboys for that game. Dobkin threw the
39:, when she was six years old. She spent much of her remaining childhood in hospitals, enduring a long series of operations, including the amputation of both feet and part of one leg. Dobkin used a wheelchair or crutches for most of her life.
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games from her hospital room, and that sparked an interest in baseball. She also remembered learning to speak
English from a radio in the hospital, and learning to read from deciphering the sports pages in newspapers.
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Dobkin always volunteered her services, because a salary would have jeopardized her disability benefits. Beyond sports, she was noted for throwing an annual
Christmas party for the children of her neighborhood.
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Mary Dobkin died in August 1987, age 84, after a stroke. A Mary Dobkin Park was dedicated in
Baltimore in 1975. There is an exhibit about Mary Dobkin at the
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By 1910, Mary resided with and had been adopted by Anne and Harry Dobkin. (1910 census and family history as retold by Mary's niece, Bessie
Pearlman Cohen.)
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19:(August 30, 1902 – August 22, 1987) was an American amateur sports coach and advocate for children.
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128:(1921–1998), advocate for children and director of the Baltimore City recreation center in
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Aunt Mary - 1979 TV movie version of the story of Mary Dobkin at
Internet Archive
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218:"'Aunt Mary' Determined to Succeed in Youth Center Drive in East Baltimore"
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Dobkin was a tiny child when her father died; soon after, she left
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391:"Mary Dobkin is Dead at 84; A Patron of Needy Children"
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237:"'Aunt Mary' Dobkin Dies: Advocate for Poor Children"
152:"'Aunt Mary' Dobkin Dies: Advocate for Poor Children"
263:The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History
31:in the care of an aunt and uncle, and settled in
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63:ceremonial first pitch at the sixth game of the
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344:"In Aunt Mary's Sandlot, Every Kid's a Champ"
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254:George Robinson and Margalit Fox (1990).
198:Frederick N. Rasmussen (March 2, 2008).
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45:Dobkin remembered hearing the crowds at
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104:Among the alumni of Dobkin teams were
479:Soviet emigrants to the United States
342:Charles Leroux (November 18, 1979).
256:"Batboys: The Witnesses Nobody Sees"
235:Burt A. Folkart (August 25, 1987).
150:Burt A. Folkart (August 25, 1987).
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429:. Vol. 10. November 28, 1979.
411:. Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum.
323:Irene Machuca (December 2, 1979).
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99:Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum
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409:"Amateur Baseball in Maryland"
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108:of the Baltimore Orioles, and
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325:"A Tribute to 'Aunt Mary,'"
277:"Cover Close-Up: Aunt Mary"
170:"Cover Close-Up: Aunt Mary"
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281:San Bernardino County Sun
174:San Bernardino County Sun
423:"Let's Call Her 'Coach'"
222:Lewiston Evening Journal
89:Personal life and legacy
67:, played in Baltimore.
72:Hallmark Hall of Fame
54:Coaching and advocacy
306:"1979 World Series"
33:Baltimore, Maryland
397:. August 25, 1987.
350:. pp. L1, L4.
74:television movie,
427:Sumter Daily Item
329:Victoria Advocate
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110:Ron Swoboda
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453:Categories
200:"Ida Katz"
137:References
23:Early life
76:Aunt Mary
37:frostbite
120:See also
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