Located in a historic neighborhood and sharing an entrance atrium with the American Jazz Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, tells the stories of its neighborhood (in introductory displays in the atrium), its city (home of the Monarchs), and the ballplayers across the country who labored under segregation but still found a way to survive and thrive through the first half of the 20th century, after which integration finally, slowly came to the Major Leagues. The museums form the centerpiece for the 18th & Vine Jazz District, a growing historic redevelopment. There’s a free parking lot behind the complex.
A recent family visit met or exceeded all expectations, for certain in the category of assembling the greatest collection of nicknames of any museum anywhere. “Cool Papa,” “Goose,” “Buck,” “Rube,” “Pork Chops,” “Peanut,” and the contemptible “Cap” — they’re all here. An opening display sets the geography of the leagues and their cities, after summing up Black baseball’s 19th-century history. Then the displays wrap around a central baseball diamond populated by statues of some of the game’s greats. In the museum’s narrative, the success of the Kansas City Monarchs is represented as central to the success of the larger game. A statue of Andrew “Rube” Foster – a player, manager, and executive – recognizes him as one of the key figures in the early years of Black baseball. It was at a meeting called by Foster in Kansas City that the Negro National League was formed.
A section addresses the barnstorming “Clown Teams” that combined games with comedy, largely to the disapproval of the established players. Video of Reece “Goose” Tatum, who also starred for the Harlem Globetrotters, demonstrates his astonishing ability to play pretend “shadowball.” Also recognized are Black female players who played with the men. Toni Stone replaced Hank Aaron for the Indianapolis Clowns when he got the call to play for the Boston Braves.
Images, objects, and text tell the story (there is apparently very little moving-image representations of the leagues), though there are several installations that demonstrate settings that would’ve been familiar to the players: a bus, a hotel room, a barbershop.
Must-see moments
- Early in the narrative, a case holds wooden barrel staves that served as early shin guards.
- Don’t overlook the small enclosure and video that captures the importance of the Black journalists who covered the leagues, as well as their integration advocacy.
- Also see “They Were All Stars,” a video presentation with bleacher seats, narrated by James Earl Jones.
- And be sure to linger at the display of baseballs signed by Negro Leagues veterans, donated to the museum by Geddy Lee of the complicated-rock band Rush.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum should fill about an hour for most museumgoers. “Divers,” who will want to read all the words and watch all the videos, should plan on twice that.
Extra things
- Lunch was at nearby Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue, the OG in a global barbecue capital. Not everything we ordered was great, though most of it was pretty good. Another meal at the Jack Stack location near Union Station was outstanding. A later dinner at Lidia’s, also near Union Station, was the best meal we had on this trip, by far.
- Kansas City is a stellar museum town. Members of our party have visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the National WWI Museum and Memorial, and the Museum of BBQ. There’s many more. We’ll be back. One surprising exhibit I’d recommend is the streetcar-history display just inside the Main Street entrance of Union Station. It lands especially well if you’ve just exited the new (and free) streetcar line that runs from downtown past the Country Club Plaza.
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