Kansas City
(and the greater midwest)
Between the Wars: 1914-1945
Race and Baseball
In an era of racial division, baseball reflected those feelings just as much as any other business. Segregation forced those who wished to play baseball to create their own league. Under the supervision of some the best minds of both Black and White men, the Negro Leagues were able to showcase the immaculate talent possessed by those forcibly exiled from the white Major Leagues. The Kansas City Monarchs excelled on the field eventually becoming widely popular among those living in Kansas City along with the growing national fanbase. By playing a game that supported the persistent racism separating the country, the Monarchs instigated a new way of thinking that unified their fans.
Leading Up to the Negro Leagues
Professional baseball going back before the Major Leagues early in the 20th century established a “Gentleman’s Agreement” among the owners to keep the league segregated. Over the next couple decades after World War I, The Great Migration as it would be come to known as hundreds of thousands of African Americans sought a new life in the large urban cities in the North. Cities like New York, Chicago and Kansas City became cultural hubs for the blossoming Jazz scene, prompting the term “Harlem Renaissance” to be coined. It was not limited to Harlem, but referencing the expansion of the arts, like the visual (right) or musical or written mediums. Kansas City became a prime city because of the African American cultural thriving in the city to host a Negro League team.
Kansas City Monarchs
The Negro Leagues that is thought of first was established by Rube Foster, a Black businessman and former pitcher. Other attempts were folly as the lack of finances and overall leadership plagued the stability of the league. Foster feared that White businessmen would deliberately avoid or harm the league. One of the few Foster trusted was J.L. Wilkinson, left, of previous owner of a traveling baseball team featuring numerous ethnic and racial backgrounds, more of a circus than competitive. Wilkinson took to Kansas City, a large urban area that had no previously established white Major League team and was home to an epicenter of black culture in the Midwest, with many big name jazz artists stopping to play in the clubs which were part of the famous 18th and Vine District. With the previous success of running a team, Wilkinson used that to establish and keep the Monarchs the premier team of the Negro National league for the duration of their two stints associated with the Negro Leagues.
The Monarchs were owners of 12 League Pennants or championships. They also won two Negro League World Series in 1924 (above) and 1942. The World Series comprised of the two League Pennant winners that year. Constantly winning helped the Monarchs become a brand soon to become synonymous with the Negro Leagues itself. Partly because of the period of barnstorming the Monarchs took part of during the early 1930’s. Barnstorming was a term that meant traveling around the country and playing as many games as possible, often double and triple headers. A tactic that Wilkinson used to get the most out of his product. He also is credited with the first to play night games, having lights on the beds of pickup trucks in the outfield. Innovative thinking from Wilkinson aided the Monarchs on the field success garnered lots of local attention from both White and Black fans. From that, national attention elevated the Monarchs to that of the Yankees. The Monarchs were able to secure the best talent as after the integration of Major League Baseball by Jackie Robinson (a Monarch) in 1947, the Monarchs lost the most players than any other team in the Negro Leagues. The impact left from the Monarchs was so that Kansas City houses the Negro Leagues Museum downtown in the historic 18th and Vine District.
Sources
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Faber, Charles F. "J.L. Wilkinson." Society for American Baseball Research. January 1, 2014. Accessed October 26, 2014.
Heaphy, Leslie A. The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2003.
Lumpkin, Angela. "Negro Leagues: Black Diamonds." Phi Kappa Phi Forum 91, no. 2 (Summer2011 2011): 22. Academic Search Premier,
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"Take up the Black Man's Burden": Kansas City's African American Communities, 1865-1939 by Charles E. Coulter Review by: Thomas C. Cox.
The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Nov., 2008), pp. 987-988
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