KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Emanuel Cleaver II remembers advocating to get the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum built in Kansas City, Missouri.
"Buck O'Neil came down to my office and said, 'Mayor, I'm in my 80s.' He said, 'I don't know how much longer I'm going to live. You've got to build this museum before I die,'" Cleaver said. "You talk about pressure. I wanted to get up and go put on some overalls, come down here with a hammer and nails and a saw and do something."
It took an unpopular proposal, a little creativity and a lot of dedication. But in 1997, the doors of the Negro League Baseball Museum opened in the historic 18th and Vine Jazz District.
Since then, more than 2 million visitors have graced its doorway.
Now, as the Negro Leagues celebrate 100 years since being founded, a new mayor is charged with keeping its legacy alive.
"Too often, when we talk about black history, so much of our story is about pain and struggle," Mayor Quinton Lucas said. "There's a part for that. What I like is the story of people who persevered, came up with things to give our community this great value and pride."
Lucas said that's the real story of the Negro Leagues.
"We should be so proud of it when you drive down the street and you see that YMCA, because it speaks to our ambition," he said.
NLBM President Bob Kendrick said Lucas "grasps and understands and I think values, how special this community is. How important these cultural institutions that align this great community and particularly, the work that we're doing here with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum."
Both Cleaver and Lucas, leading Kansas City decades apart, continue to advocate for keeping its shared history safe.
