KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The newest stop on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail is right here in Kansas City after the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was added to the trail Tuesday.
It is the third site in Missouri to be added to the map of places critical to the advancement of civil rights in U.S. history.
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence is already a stop along with the Old Courthouse in St. Louis.
Truman, who served as president from 1945 to 1953, has been recognized for desegregating the U.S. military, while the Old Courthouse is where the Dred Scott trial was heard.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which is located at 1616 E. 18th St. in the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, Missouri, was nominated by the Missouri Division of Tourism.
The Negro Leagues were founded in KCMO in 1920 and played a key role in the desegregation of sports and the breaking of the color barrier in professional sports, paving the way for changes in wider society.
“We are deeply honored to be part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail,” Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, said in a statement. “The Negro Leagues played a tremendous role in the social advancement of America. Our inclusion to the trail will undoubtedly help more people understand that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a Civil Rights and Social Justice institution that documents a powerful story of triumph over adversity as seen through the lens of baseball.”
The U.S. Civil Rights Trail was created in 2018.
