Negro League
African-Americans began to play baseball in the
late 1800s on military teams, college teams, and company teams. They eventually found their way to professional teams with white players. Moses Fleetwood Walker and Bud Fowler were among the first to participate. However, racism and “Jim Crow” laws would force them from these teams by 1900. Thus, black players formed their own units, “barnstorming” around the country to play anyone who
would challenge them.
In 1920, an organized league structure was formed
under the guidance of Andrew “Rube” Foster—a former player, manager, and owner
for the Chicago American Giants. In a meeting held at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas
City, Mo., Foster and a few other Midwestern team owners joined to form the
Negro National League. Soon, rival leagues formed in Eastern and Southern
states, bringing the thrills and innovative play of black baseball to major
urban centers and rural country sides in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.
The Leagues maintained a high level of professional skill and became
centerpieces for economic development in many black communities.
In 1945, Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson from
the Kansas City Monarchs. Robinson now becomes the first African-American in
the modern era to play on a Major League roster.
While this historic
event was a key moment in baseball and civil rights history, 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, but their legacy lives on through the surviving
players
late 1800s on military teams, college teams, and company teams. They eventually found their way to professional teams with white players. Moses Fleetwood Walker and Bud Fowler were among the first to participate. However, racism and “Jim Crow” laws would force them from these teams by 1900. Thus, black players formed their own units, “barnstorming” around the country to play anyone who
would challenge them.
In 1920, an organized league structure was formed
under the guidance of Andrew “Rube” Foster—a former player, manager, and owner
for the Chicago American Giants. In a meeting held at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas
City, Mo., Foster and a few other Midwestern team owners joined to form the
Negro National League. Soon, rival leagues formed in Eastern and Southern
states, bringing the thrills and innovative play of black baseball to major
urban centers and rural country sides in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.
The Leagues maintained a high level of professional skill and became
centerpieces for economic development in many black communities.
In 1945, Major League Baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson from
the Kansas City Monarchs. Robinson now becomes the first African-American in
the modern era to play on a Major League roster.
While this historic
event was a key moment in baseball and civil rights history, 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, but their legacy lives on through the surviving
players