New Museum Will Further Tell the Powerful Stories of the Negro Leagues Baseball Players

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) announced it has been awarded a $1 million grant from Bank of America in support of the museum’s $25 million capital campaign to build a new 30,000 square-foot facility. This funding will enable the NLBM to provide the latest state of the art technology that will be used to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity through the lens of America’s unsung baseball heroes who overcame tremendous social adversity to play baseball.  The announcement was made at the NLBM with bank and museum officials alongside Congressman Emanuel Cleaver; Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas; Frank White, Jr., Jackson County Executive; Kathy Nelson, President & CEO, Kansas City Sports Commission and John Sherman, Chairman & CEO Kansas City Royals.

To coincide with the bank’s commitment of the new museum, Major League Baseball alumni players David DeJesus, Rajai Davis, and Dexter Fowler will take part in a Bank of America “Play It Forward” baseball clinic on Saturday, May 6 for 50 area youth from the YMCA of Greater Kansas City. The Clinic coincides with the celebration of the winning spirit of the Kansas City Monarchs and is held on the anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first game with the team.

The new state of the art facility will be built adjacent to the Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center (BOERC) which will now be housed in the former Paseo YMCA. That historic building is where Andrew “Rube” Foster established the Negro Leagues in 1920. With help from the anchor grant, the new NLBM, in combination with the BOERC, will create a “Negro Leagues Campus” that will become the gateway into Kansas City’s famed Historic 18th & Vine District. This will be a catalyst for economic growth in a vastly underserved, predominantly African American community.

The bank’s support will allow the NLBM to expand programming, create dynamic interactive displays, house a gallery to showcase new exhibitions, feature a larger gift shop, and include a more expansive archival and storage space.

“Thanks to the generosity and continued support of Bank of America, the future of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum begins today,” said Bob Kendrick, museum president. “Our growth from a one-room office to becoming America’s National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has been an amazing journey. Now, we’re building an organization that will continue to preserve and celebrate the triumphant story of the Negro Leagues but also fortify our position as one of the nation’s most important civil rights and social justice institutions,” Kendrick said.

The grant is part of Bank of America’s overall commitment to strengthening the Kansas City community by addressing key issues fundamental to economic opportunity and social progress. It also builds on Bank of America’s efforts to advance racial equality and opportunity for communities of color. The new facility will integrate a blend of technology and nostalgia to create an immersive culturally enriched experience that enlightens students and adults about a precious piece of baseball and Americana that has been excluded from the pages of American history books.

“We share NLBM’s mission to preserve and celebrate the rich history of African American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America,” said Matt Linski, president, Bank of America Kansas City. “Our commitment recognizes the importance – culturally and economically – of the 18th & Vine District to Kansas City today and we hope it will be an example for other funders to follow. Additionally, this grant is paramount to ensuring greater understanding and better appreciation of the many contributions African Americans have made and continue to make, including Jackie Robinson breaking the Major League color barrier.”

This announcement is the latest in a series of investments that Bank of America has made in the Kansas City community. Bank of America has invested more than $13 million in grants and sponsorships since 2020 as well as capital investments to help small businesses, affordable housing, and other economic revitalization projects benefiting communities throughout Kansas City.

Bank of America’s relationship with the NLBM dates back to the 1980s with bank leaders having served on the original 18th & Vine Authority Board that established the district. Bank of America funded the exhibition Discovering Greatness that traveled to all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) campuses to reach young African Americans who might otherwise have been unaware of their Negro Leagues heritage. In 2008, the museum presented Bank of America the prestigious Buck O’Neil Legacy Award. In 2019, the museum was selected for Neighborhood Builders®, Bank of America’s signature philanthropic program and received $2000,000 grant for operational funding and leadership training.   President Bob Kendrick has provided thought leadership at numerous Bank of America events including Courageous Conversations over the past three years and at the recent opening of the Barrier Breakers exhibition at Dodger Stadium. The NLBM has been part of the bank’s Museums on Us® program for many years.

For more information, please visit: www.nlbm.com/pitchforthefuture

Vandalized Jackie Robinson marker heads to Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

A plaque honoring baseball legend Jackie Robinson that was vandalized in Georgia is coming to Kansas City’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to be put on display.

The sign was erected in 2001 outside the birthplace of Robinson near Cairo, Ga. Community members there discovered last year that someone had shot the plaque multiple times.

Curator and museum vice president Ray Doswell told the Kansas City Star that displaying the defaced marker is an opportunity to teach the public about Robinson’s story and combat hate. Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when he became the league’s first Black player.

Robinson’s hometown replaced the damaged marker, with help from the league, and added another marker at a library last week.

The vandalized marker is slated to go on display around mid-April, after a display case is built and spot secured in the museum, to coincide with the museum’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The plaque is expected to be permanently loaned to the Kansas City museum for regular display.

Museum community engagement manager Kiona Sinks said in a tweet that the vandalized marker will “serve as a reminder that the ugliness of America’s past persists to this day.”

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City Flooded by Vandals

Officials at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri found their building flooded after vandals cut through water pipes above the cultural institution’s newly renovated Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center. The museum estimated nearly $500,000 dollars in damages, putting the historical space in financial peril.

The Education and Research Center at the museum was the latest addition to a large renovation plan that started in 2011 and has cost $4 million of an estimated $15 million thus far. Just months away from reopening, the museum’s first floor bore the brunt of flood damage.

“There has been a community investment in this project that goes beyond finance,” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick told the Bleacher Report. “This was an investment of sweat equity. When we first started cleaning the building up, ordinary people from the community would come in, put their boots on and start gathering debris. A lot of people in Kansas City are hurting right alongside the Negro Leagues Museum, as we think about this very heinous attempt to damage the center.”

Although the museum is still negotiating with its insurance company, its first claim was denied.

Fortunately, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has seen a groundswell of support in recent weeks with donations coming to the museum from across the country. As a historically community-based organization, the museum has received nearly $200,000 to help shoulder the expenses of reconstruction. Claudia Williams and the board of directors of the Ted Williams Museum in Florida pledged $10,000. The Kansas City Star also reports that Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain, recently gave the museum a $20,000 check. The Kansas City Royals also donated $26,000 in proceeds from a recent charity game in honor of the Negro Leagues.

Those wishing to contribute to the fund can go to the museum’s site here: https://www.nlbm.com/buck/buck.htm