Walter Schlichter

Henry Walter "Slick" Schlichter was an American sports executive, sportswriter, and boxing referee.

Career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Schlichter wrote for the Philadelphia Item, a daily newspaper. Along with National Baseball Hall of Famer Sol White and Philadelphia Tribune baseball writer Harry A. Smith, Schlichter co-founded the Philadelphia Giants Negro [league baseball] team. He owned the Giants until he disbanded the team in 1911. He also co-founded an early all-black baseball league, the National Association of Colored Baseball [Clubs of the United States and Cuba], and served as its president from 1906 to 1909.
Schlichter worked as a boxing referee from 1893 to 1910. He appears as the referee in Thomas Eakins' 1898 painting Taking the Count.
He died on January 15, 1945, and was interred at West [Laurel Hill Cemetery] in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.