Lucius Banks

Lucius Banks, Jr. (1 May 1886 – February 1955) was an American professional rugby league footballer in England. Banks, who played for Hunslet R.L.F.C. in Hunslet, Leeds in 1912, is thought to be the first black athlete to compete in rugby league football; the first American to play rugby league; and, according to the historian Tony Collins, "probably only the fourth black American to play professional football of any code".

Biography
Banks was born in Virginia in either 1885 or 1886 to Lucius Banks Sr. and Julia Webb Banks. The family moved to Arlington, Massachusetts when he was still young.

Prior to coming in the UK, Banks had served in the U.S. cavalry, recorded as a private in 1910 in the Army and Navy Register. He was stationed at West Point, New York from 1908–1912, where he excelled in both cricket and American football.

Banks was spotted playing as a quarterback in New York by a one-time member of Hunslet R.L.F.C.'s management committee, and the club bought him out of the army and brought him to the UK, apparently partly because the club thought an exotic player would boost revenue. The strategy seems to have worked, as 'his presence significantly swelled the attendance at his first game'.

Banks's performance seems to have been fairly successful: playing on the wing, he scored four tries during his first four games for the club, the first of which was on 27 January 1912, against York R.L.F.C.. He later moved to playing as, before returning to America following his last game with the club, on 26 December 1912.

Reception
Local news reporting on Banks's first game in England included some prominent racist coverage, with a local evening paper running the headline 'Hunslet's Coloured Coon' and the Yorkshire Post suggesting that local players should have been hired instead and commenting that "if the club wanted to sign 'coloured' players they should go to South Africa, where there are reputed to be capable goal kickers with bare feet".

More recently, however, Banks has become a celebrated figure, seen as a pioneer in what has become a long history of black rugby league players.

Later life
Following his days in England, Banks served in the First World War and saw active service in France. In 1919, he joined the Boston Police Department   and worked as a police officer for 27 years. He was also a member of the Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masonic Lodge. He died in 1955 (when his age was listed as 68) and was survived his wife, Maude, and son, Richard L. Banks.