III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 508 

Recognizing the teams and players of Negro League Baseball for their 

achievements, dedication, sacrifices, and contributions to baseball and 

the Nation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2012 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, and Mr. NELSON of Florida) 

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the teams and players of Negro League Baseball 

for their achievements, dedication, sacrifices, and contributions to baseball and the Nation. 

Whereas, prior to 1947, Major League Baseball excluded African Americans from playing professional baseball, but 

could not suppress their desire to play the sport; 

Whereas African Americans began organizing their own professional baseball teams in 1885; 

Whereas, between 1920 and 1960, African Americans organized 6 separate baseball leagues, known collectively as 

the Negro Leagues; 

Whereas the Negro Leagues included exceptionally talented 

athletes who played baseball at the sport’s highest level; 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 508 ATS 

Whereas, on May 20, 1920, the first Negro League, the 

Negro National League, played its first game; 

Whereas, prior to the inclusion of African Americans in 

Major League Baseball, the Negro Leagues and their 

players were extraordinarily successful and popular 

throughout the United States; 

Whereas the skills and abilities of players in the Negro 

Leagues contributed to the realization by Major League 

Baseball of the need to integrate African Americans into 

the sport; 

Whereas Major League Baseball was not fully integrated 

until July 1959; 

Whereas the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas 

City, Missouri, was founded in 1990, to honor those who 

played in the Negro Leagues as a result of segregation 

in the United States; 

Whereas the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is the only 

public museum in the Nation that exists for the exclusive 

purpose of interpreting the experiences of players in the 

Negro Leagues from 1920 through 1960; 

Whereas there remains a need to preserve evidence of the 

honor, courage, sacrifice, and triumph in the face of segregation that African Americans displayed while playing 

in the Negro Leagues; 

Whereas the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum seeks to educate a diverse audience through its comprehensive collection of historical materials, important artifacts, and oral 

histories of the players in the Negro Leagues, as well as 

inform the public on the impact of segregation on the 

lives of those African-American players and their fans; 

and 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 508 ATS 

Whereas the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, through its 

invaluable resources, presents a great opportunity to 

teach children and others by providing on-site visits, traveling exhibits, classroom curriculum, distance learning, 

and other educational initiatives: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the teams and players of Negro 

3 League Baseball for their achievements, dedication, 

4 sacrifices, and contributions to baseball and the Na5 tion; 

6 (2) supports the designation of the Negro 

7 Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, 

8 as ‘‘America’s National Negro Leagues Baseball 

9 Museum’’, including the museum’s future and ex10 panded exhibits, collections library, archives, arti11 facts, and education programs; 

12 (3) commends the efforts of the Negro Leagues 

13 Baseball Museum to recognize and preserve the his14 tory of the Negro Leagues and the impact of seg15 regation on the Nation; 

16 (4) recognizes that the continued collection, 

17 preservation, and interpretation of the historical ob18 jects and other materials at the Negro Leagues 

19 Baseball Museum enhances the knowledge and un20 derstanding of the experience of African Americans 

21 during segregation; 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 508 ATS 

1 (5) calls on every American to join in cele2 brating the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and its 

3 mission of preserving and interpreting the legacy of 

4 the Negro Leagues; and 

5 (6) encourages present and future generations 

6 of Americans to understand the important issues 

7 surrounding the Negro Leagues, the role of the 

8 Negro Leagues in shaping Major League Baseball 

9 and the Nation, and how the sacrifices of Negro 

10 League players helped establish baseball as a na11 tional pastime of the United States. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS