February 1920

Rube Foster founded the Negro National League on February 13, 1920, formalizing what would become a multi-team, multi-league structure employing hundreds of Black ballplayers excluded from Major League Baseball's unwritten color line. By the 1930s, the Negro Leagues were among the largest Black-owned businesses in America, with teams in most major Northern and border cities. Players including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Oscar Charleston performed at major league caliber. The leagues generated revenue, provided Black communities with heroes and gathering events, and employed front-office, concession, and facility workers. Integration in 1947 ultimately destroyed the leagues.

Rube Foster founded the Negro National League on February 13, 1920, formalizing a multi-team, multi-league structure employing hundreds of Black ballplayers excluded from Major League Baseball's unwritten color line. By the 1930s, the Negro Leagues were among the largest Black-owned businesses in America. Players including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Oscar Charleston performed at major league caliber. The leagues generated revenue, provided Black communities with heroes and gathering events, but were themselves a monument to exclusion. Integration in 1947 ultimately destroyed the leagues.