by Chris Boucher

With the New England Patriots mini-camp recently completed, and with the Massachusetts Pirates season in full swing, it’s a good time to consider a groundbreaking partnership in the city that may have influenced pro football history.

The founder of the Patriots, Billy Sullivan, Jr., was from Lowell. When his father and uncle acquired the largest indoor arena in the city in the 1920s, they partnered with Bucky Lew to bring pro basketball to local fans.

The Crescent Arena had three floors, 17 bowling alleys, and a large hall for boxing and basketball. The Sullivans ran large ads in the papers announcing their ambitious plans for it: “We plan to make the establishment one of the best and biggest amusement centers in New England … Where only clean entertainment, conducted under the proper supervision, will be countenanced.”

The Sullivans’ evolving relationship with Lew came despite growing Ku Klux Klan activity in the area, which included a midnight cross burning on Fort Hill. The Sun reported in 1923 that “As the K.K.K. symbol, outlined against the night sky in tongues of flame, burned fiercely, the entire neighborhood was thrown into consternation.”

All three members of the partnership were fixtures in the city. Lew, of course, was basketball’s first Black professional.

At the time, the Courier-Citizen described him as follows: “Bucky Lew, a living monument of basketball history in Lowell.”

Bucky Lew, Basketball’s first black professional player

Billy Sullivan, Sr., was a longtime Lowell Sun employee. He started at the bottom as an office boy and worked his way to a top as an editor. In between, he was a sports reporter, writing about a wide array of athletics, including pro basketball when Lew was in the midst of his historic career.

Joseph Sullivan was a rags-to-riches success story. He started working as a newsboy and Fridays on the “fish wagon,” then opened a printing business with another brother, Daniel. Their shop grew from a one-room affair to a 150,000-square-foot facility and one of seven plants they would run nationwide. Joseph was also famous for his charitable contributions, gifting altars and stained-glass windows to a dozen or so churches, including the altar and canopy at Immaculate Conception.

The partners’ early results were good. Lew brought his Lowell- and Nashua-based teams to the arena and played host to area teams. The Sullivans had to be pleased to see a Sun report saying many more teams were eager to face him at the Crescent. “Bucky Lew has received about a dozen challenges during the past few days from teams in and round Boston who desire to come to Lowell for games.”

So the partners soon expanded their relationship. Next, they helped organize a revival of the old New England League. The Fitchburg Sentinel reported that “The league mainly started through the efforts of Bucky Lew of Lowell who thought [it] would pay.” Lew would lead Lowell’s franchise and Billy Sullivan, Sr., would serve as president.

Unfortunately, the league did not pay, so operations were suspended. Then, the trio launched a city pro league, with Lew as lead referee and Joseph Sullivan as treasurer. Lew’s performance in this capacity received positive reviews. After the first game, the Courier-Citizen said: “Bucky Lew … was on the job as referee and turned in a fine game as arbiter. To handle two such teams, with feeling as it is, is no easy task but Bucky carried it off to perfection.”

Of course, refereeing games didn’t mean Lew discontinued his other roles. The Courier-Citizen wrote that one game had to be rescheduled because he was supposed to coach, play, and officiate at the same time: “Bucky Lew, who coaches and plays … is signed up as referee.” He was a true triple threat!

While each successive effort started strong, they were handicapped by the poor financial conditions of the times. The economy tanked as mills, jobs, and people left the city. Lowell lost over 10% of its population, roughly 12,500 people, between 1920 and 1930.

Billy Sullivan Jr., standing at far left, pictured with American Football League’s founding owners

That said, the lessons learned from the partnership carried on to the next generation. Billy Sullivan, Jr., adopted the same open-minded approach as his father and uncle. When the Patriots became one of the founding members of the American Football League, Sullivan and his peers took a much more inclusive approach than the NFL.

AFL owners like Sullivan signed a much larger number of Black players, including Ron Burton, Sr., one of the Pats’ first stars, and it allowed them to catch up to the talent of the NFL in relatively short order.

Sullivan (2nd from right) with MA Governor Michael Dukakis (far left) & Boston Mayor Ray Flynn (far right).

Ultimately, the AFL’s success forced a merger, and the Patriots eventually became a pro football juggernaut. One has to wonder how much the historic partnership between the Lews and the Sullivan brothers influenced that history.

Chris Boucher has written two books about Bucky Lew. The second of which, a straight nonfiction biography based on another year of research and over 600 citations, is scheduled to be published by McFarland this fall. You can find out more at chrisboucher.net.