Negro Leagues Pennant Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSSP 10079

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Negro Leagues Pennant Collection consists of nine felt pennants for African American baseball teams that played in the organized Negro Leagues during the 1930s and 1940s. The teams represented in the collection are the Homestead Grays, two examples, with one version spelled as “Greys”, the New York Black Yankees, the New York Cuban Stars, the Baltimore Elite Giants, the Newark Eagles, and the Philadelphia Stars. The pennants contain no information about their origin or date of creation. Several of the pennants share the same design and graphics suggesting a common manufacturer. The sale of pennants and other collectibles to fans of African American baseball teams demonstrate the interest in Negro Leagues teams and the increasing commercialization of baseball at all levels in this era. Formats include pennants.

Dates

Creation: c. 1930s - c. 1940s

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

African American baseball teams date to the mid nineteenth century. Despite earlier attempts at establishing organized leagues for African American teams, the Negro National League, founded in 1920 by Rube Foster and others, was the first enduring and successful African American baseball league. Other leagues in this era, including the Eastern Colored League and the Negro Southern League, came and went during the 1920s and 1930s. Many leagues failed due to persistent financial troubles, especially during the Depression. The original Negro National League, itself, collapsed in 1931. Successors to these leagues sprung up during the 1930s, and, from 1937 until after World War Two, the highest level of African American baseball was relatively stable with the competing Negro National League and the Negro American League. After the integration of Major League Baseball, most organized Black leagues went out of business.