Kansas City Monarchs Baseball Team
Rating
Title
Kansas City Monarchs Baseball Team
Subject
African American -- Alabama -- Huntsville
Description
"African-Americans began to play baseball in the late 1800's 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 countrysides 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 became 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 and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. " Source : The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum http://www.nlbm.com/s/history.htm
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Publisher
Huntsville-Madison County Public Library
Contributors
Photo Collection HMCPL Special Collections and Archives
Type
Image
Rights
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