Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Kansas City, Missouri

The Negro Leagues play an integral role in the history of baseball.

African Americans began to play baseball in the late 1800s on military, college and company teams.  They eventually found their way to professional teams with white players.  However, racism and “Jim Crow” laws would force them from these teams by 1900.  This led to Black players forming their own teams, “barnstorming” around the country to play anyone who would challenge them.

In 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster – a former player, manager and owner for the Chicago American Giants – established the Negro National League.  Soon rival leagues formed in Eastern and Southern states, bringing the thrills of black baseball to major urban centers and rural country sides in the U.S. and beyond.  The Leagues maintained a high level of professional skill and became the centerpiece for economic development in many Black communities.

In 1945, Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs.  While this historic event was a key moment in baseball. it prompted the decline of the Negro Leagues.  The best Black players were now recruited for the Major Leagues, and black fans followed.  The last Negro Leagues teams folded in the early 1960s.

In addition to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum is located here. Also in Kansas City is the internationally known 18th and Vine Historic District. 

During WWII in St. Robert, Fort Leonard Wood was a segregated post that trained engineers and thousands of Black soldiers passed through here.  The U.S, Army Engineer Museum includes the original black officer’s club as well as several training sites.

A photo on display at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, Missouri.