Negro League History
Between the end of the civil war and 1890 some black baseball players were able to play in white teams. Starting in 1890 many leagues stopped allowing black players and by 2000 the color barrier was in place. Many black players started to join all black independent teams and in the 1900's professional black baseball spread across the heartlands and in the south. In 1920 the Negro National League (NNL) and the Negro Southern League (NSL) formed, three years later the Eastern Colored League (ECL) formed. The NNL lasted until 1931 when the Great Depression hit. Gus Greenlee formed the second Negro National League (GNNL) that lasted from 1933 to 1949. The NSL continued through the great depression until the 1940's. In 1937 the Negro American League (NAL) was formed bringing some of the best clubs in the South and Midwest and was the opposing circut to the NNL until the NNL disbanded in 1949. The color barrier was broken in 1946 when Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers and in 1952 there was around 150 black players in organized baseball.
|
|