Autographed Negro League baseball bat

Baseball is referred to as America’s pastime. But for decades it also reflected racial discrimination in America, with separate leagues for Black and White players. When Black players were prevented from playing on professional teams, the first “negro league” was started in 1887. In 1920, the Negro National League was formed, eventually becoming one of seven professional leagues for Black players. The end of this segregation began in 1947 when the Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Jackie Robinson, but the last professional club, the Indianapolis Clowns, lasted as an exhibition team until 1989.

 

This bat carries the autographs of an astonishing 120 players from the Negro Leagues. It was acquired for the temporary Baseball Boundary Breakers exhibition in 2021. It serves as a reminder both of the talented athletes who entertained fans for more than 100 years and of the uneven Jim Crow Era treatment of Americans based on their backgrounds and color of their skin.