Celebrating the Centennial of the Negro Leagues

In 1920, the Negro National League was created by the owners of eight all-black baseball clubs. This was the first structured Negro League that lasted for an extended period of time. Many similar leagues followed it.

This year Major League Baseball is celebrating the 100 year anniversary of these historic Negro Leagues. A number of great ballplayers such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell went on to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Take a look at the many resources that SCCLD has available to let you find out more about the exciting teams, the talented players, and the times they played in. Log in with your library card and pin number to see "Baseball: The Negro Leagues" in the Gale Virtual Reference Library; or, do an Article Search for 'negro leagues' to find "Negro League" (in the Salem Press Encyclopedia) and "Sacrifice Play" (by David Conrads in MasterFILE Complete).

Go to the Great Courses in Kanopy to watch Episode 12 of "Play Ball! The Rise of Baseball as America's Pastime - Black Baseball Before the Negro Leagues". For other patrons there are the dvd for Ken Burns' "Baseball 1-5, 5th Inning Shadowball"; and the books "The Negro Leagues Were Major Leagues", along with "Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball", that can be checked out.