Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Information

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) is the world’s only national museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America. The privately funded, 501 c3, not-for-profit organization was incorporated in 1990 and is located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri’s Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. The NLBM operates two blocks from the Paseo YMCA where Andrew “Rube” Foster established the Negro National League in 1920. The NLBM opened its doors to the public in a tiny, one-room office space in 1991 with a dream of building a permanent facility that would pay rightful tribute to America’s unsung baseball heroes. In November of 1997, under the leadership of its chairman John “Buck” O’Neil, that dream became a reality when the NLBM moved into its new home at 18th & Vine. Today, the NLBM features a magnificent $2.5-million, 10,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art exhibit that is attracting visitors worldwide and has given voice to a remarkable chapter of American history that had gone untold for far too long. In July of 2006, the NLBM gained National Designation from the United States Congress earning the distinction of being “America’s National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.”