Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to celebrate 100th anniversary in KC

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February 15, 2019 - 4:03 PM

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., is dedicated to preserving the history of African-American baseball, when black players were prohibited from joining the major league teams. Mark Taylor/Chicago Tribune/TNS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is making big plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Kansas City meeting that started it all.

The museum announced plans for a yearlong celebration that will start on Feb. 13, 2020, the 100th anniversary of a meeting at the Paseo YMCA that sparked the Negro Leagues. Those sessions between interested owners were led by Andrew “Rube” Foster.

“What Rube Foster accomplished in establishing the Negro Leagues against the backdrop of American segregation is monumental and richly deserves to be more than just a footnote in baseball history,” said Bob Kendrick, the NLBM president. “This milestone anniversary creates a platform for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to educate the public about this powerful story of triumph over adversity while using the many relevant life lessons to inspire a nation to embrace diversity and inclusion.”

The anniversary celebration opens on Feb. 13, 2020 with a centennial art exhibition, a visual history of the Negro Leagues.

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