Jim Colzie was born in Montezuma, Georgia in the summer of 1920. He was educated at the Macon County Training School from grade school through high school. While Jim was a young boy, his mother worked for the Anderson family. They were a kind hearted and religious white family. Mrs. Colzie reared the Anderson children, cooking and cleaning for their entire family. Mr. William Anderson was an ophthalmologist. He and Jim had become good friends. During the summer of ‘35, Jim was approaching his fifteenth year he and Mr. Anderson made a day trip to Atlanta to run errands. On the trip home, they stopped at a restaurant to get a bite to eat. A black person in a restaurant was not tolerated well, but after shuffling the tables around a bit they were able to eat. Once they returned to the road, they had to stop at a service station. Jim made his way to the rest room. Mr. Anderson decided to follow him and wait outside the rest room door, and they returned to the car together. Jim questioned Mr. Anderson a few miles down the road as to why he did this. He responded that he was concerned that the white folks sitting at the front of the building may have followed him around back, and he was afraid they might do something evil. He continued to tell Jim that one-day a colored man would be equal to a white man. Jim never forgot that.
After graduating from high school Jim earned a scholarship to the state teacher’s college, Florida Memorial in St. Augustine, Florida. After receiving his degree he was offered a job in St. Augustine, but chose to return home to Georgia where Mrs. Moore, a family friend, directed him to an opportunity for a job as a teacher/principal at a district high school just fourteen miles from his home. Jim’s first priority was to bring the parent and teacher and student together to raise money to start a basketball program. The community was excited about this and worked together to hold a dinner, the women cooked and sold the meals and they raised enough money to build two baskets and three balls. Jim decided to coach a woman’s basketball team in his spare time. It was here that he would meet a very special young woman. At that time, she was a star on the basketball team but one day she would become his wife. They were married on June 18, 1942.
On December 28, 1942, Jim was called to service. Assigned to the 902nd Aviation Squadron through 1945. As he performed his duties faithfully, Jim was promoted to the rank of buck sergeant and served the unit as their payroll clerk. He worked closely with the colonel and sergeant major. He was called on to manage a baseball team for the 1st sergeant.
Upon exiting his service commitment, he played in Cuba for 5 weeks. That was all the time that was necessary as opportunity with the Indianapolis Clowns came knocking. He spent the 1946 and 1947 seasons with the Clowns.
In Illinois he recalled pitching an exhibition game. Catcher Sam Hairston visited the mound to warn him that the runner on second was relaying the signals to the batter. They would switch the signals around and went back to work. Colzie hit the batter that was expecting a curve and was dealt a fastball. Unfortunately, the batter was severely injured. Talk of serious retaliation was planned from the booth for after the game. As it would be, the business manager for the Clowns was sitting in the stands and overheard the plan. He moved to get the equipment loaded early and at the game’s end and ushered the team to the bus instead of the showers, not to ever return to this town for exhibition games.
Racial prejudice was a common occurrence that the players had to learn to deal with. Jim recalls entering and sitting in a diner with his teammates. Waiters and waitresses acknowledged that they had entered and were seated and waiting for service, but the service would not offered. The servants never returned to the table to take their orders. Before long the group would just stand up and exit the establishment.
After his full time baseball career was over, he was hired as a part-time player, where he would slip out of work to play ball as he was needed. Jim had later contacted his friend, King Tutt, a team leader on the Harlem Globetrotter baseball team and made an agreement to work with them as a bus driver. This kept him close to this game he loved. Colzie spoke highly of this Harlem Globetrotter baseball team. They were all very talented men. Between innings they kept the fans attention entertaining them with shadow ball performances and pure comedy skits.
He acknowledges that being “born to soon” kept a great deal of talent from the major leagues. After his baseball career was over, he was hired as a part-time player, where he would slip out of his work and play ball.
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