Boston Globe The legacy of Willie O’Ree

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Kevin Paul Dupont: The legacy of Willie O’Ree - The Boston Globe


Willie O’Ree’s time in Boston was fairly brief, though his legacy will run forever. A speedy left winger, he played his first couple of games with the Bruins in January 1958, then suited up for 43 more in 1960-61.
He was gone after those 45 games, never to play again in the NHL. He was 25, fast, still vital, and still black.
“My older brother, my mentor, always told me, ‘Willie, you can’t change the color of your skin, and you wouldn’t even want to,’ ” O’Ree said the other day, recalling the advice of his brother, Richard, one of 13 O’Ree kids who grew up in the family home in Fredericton, New Brunswick. “He said people will accept you for the individual you are.”

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