Kansas City's Negro Leagues Museum plans expansion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sparked by growing interest in the important story it tells, big things are happening for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

The historic building down the street where Rube Foster founded the Negro Leagues in 1920 will soon house the museum's offices, creating more floor space for exhibits. Money is being raised to open a research and educational center as well as interactive exhibits.

A growing circle of friends such as San Diego Padres owner John Moores is helping curators obtain artifacts. A television miniseries on the Negro Leagues is even in the works.

"Can you imagine anything worse than to lose your sense of history?" Moores said. "That's what almost happened with the Negro Leagues."

When the museum opened in 1990 in the midtown 18th and Vine Jazz District, many felt its future was bleak.

Many of the game's most valuable artifacts already were in the hands of private collectors, who had sought out the aging players and their widows two decades earlier, before black baseball memorabilia became fashionable.

The early years were a struggle, but now the museum is bustling as never before.

The biggest project is the restoration of one of the oldest black YMCAs in the country. It was in that three-story structure in 1920 that Foster, a Chicago businessman, convinced the owners of seven other independent black teams to form the Negro Leagues.

From then until after Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier in 1947, the Negro Leagues showcased many of the greatest athletes who ever played the game. And, just as importantly, it also gave those who one day would break the color line a place to play.

Its stars -- among them Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Bullet Rogan and Cool Papa Bell -- would bring white fans jumping to their feet, then that night be refused service at the local diner by those same people who had cheered them.

Among the black community, the Negro Leagues were a focus of pride and hope as well as entertainment.

"Outside of the fact they were a bunch of great athletes, it's a wonderful story and needs to be told," said Moores, who has given the museum some valuable pieces from his own collection.

The old YMCA, built in 1914, already has been declared a national historic landmark. The museum was not allowed to purchase it without promising to approach the renovation as strictly as a preservation project.

The research and education center will be named in honor of Buck O'Neil, the former player and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs who serves as the museum's adviser and goodwill ambassador.