Charles Ross will speak about blacks in sports at 6 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Ohio Union as part of Black History Month.

Ross, a Columbus native who earned his doctorate in history from Ohio State in 1996, said his book “Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League” has a special connection to OSU, as it was his dissertation.

Marcus Ross, Charles Ross’ brother and the director of Community Relations for OSU’s College Bound Program, spearheaded the effort to include this event.

“We wanted to have Dr. Ross come and give a scholarly overview of his research,” Marcus Ross said. “I have been trying to promote his book, and I have been trying to promote the story of African Americans who broke the color barrier of the NFL.”

Like his brother, Marcus Ross said he was surprised by the relative anonymity that the black pioneers of the NFL have in comparison to their counterparts in Major League Baseball.

“I felt it was a story that needed to be told,” Marcus Ross said.

Charles Ross said his inspiration for the book evolved from a conversation he had with an adviser at OSU. In a discussion of possible dissertation topics, he became curious about who the first professional black football player was, he said.

He began by researching Charles Follis and his landmark acceptance onto the Canton Bulldogs around 1904.

“I realized that there was an overall story to tell,” he said.

In studying the integration of blacks into the NFL, Ross said he believes there is a reason that sports integrated minorities earlier than the general population.

“Sports is an area where progress has come earlier because of competition and economics,” he said.

Furthermore, the author said football has supplanted baseball as America’s No. 1 pastime because of its communal links.

However, Ross said he believes the opportunities for blacks in football are not sufficient. Ross said the limited number of black head coaches in the NFL and in NCAA football, as well as the lack of black owners in the NFL, shows the need to further open all areas of sports to minorities.

The most influential event in the progress of blacks in sports in the last few decades, Ross said, was Robert Johnson becoming the first black owner of a professional sports team, the expansion Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA.

Ross, who now teaches at the University of Mississippi, said he may write more in the future.

“I would like to extend the book’s focus to the time period from 1962 to the present,” he said.

The event will include a panel to discuss issues involving race and sports. The panel is scheduled to include OSU faculty William E. Nelson and Melvin Adelman, NBC4’s Mike Valpredo, former OSU track star and Olympian Stephanie Hightower, former OSU quarterback Cornelius Green, former OSU lineman Bill Willis, as well as other members, said Kai Landis, coordinator of student involvement.