The team played as the "Rebels" in 1951, with Emporia hosting minor league home games at Slagle Stadium.
Owner Clark Griffith named former player Ossie Bluege as Farm Director and expanded the Washington system to 11 minor league affiliates and 7 scouts in 1948.
Local businessman Eugene Bloom was instrumental in reaching an agreement with the Senators to place a team in Emporia.
[2] The Blackstone Barristers, Franklin Cubs, Lawrenceville Cardinals, Petersburg Generals and Suffolk Goobers teams joined Emporia in beginning league play on April 23, 1948.
[4] Just before the start of the regular season, Emporia pitchers Bert Roseberry and Ralph Fraser were both killed in an automobile accident.
In 1951, Washington transferred their Class D level affiliation to the Roanoke Rapids Jays of the Coastal Plain League.
[1] In their final season, the renamed Emporia "Rebels" missed the playoffs with a last place finish in the Virginia League standings.