Milwaukee.Brewers.MLB.com

Player-Worn Milwaukee Bears Replica Jersey Auction
Begins:
7/30/09 at 12 p.m. CST
Ends:
8/13/09 at 12 p.m. CST
Proceeds will benefit Yesterday's Negro League Foundation and the Negro League Museum.

African-Americans began playing professional baseball during the Civil War. They eventually played alongside white players, until racism and "Jim Crow" laws forced them out in 1900. At that time, black players formed their own teams, but it wasn't until 1920 when the Negro Leagues, an organized league structure of African-American players, was formed.

Under the guidance of Andrew "Rube" Foster(below), a player, manager, and owner for the Chicago American Giants, seven other Midwestern team owners joined in forming the Negro National League. Rival leagues formed in eastern and southern states, which allowed the Negro Leagues to thrive until 1947 when Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues, with other black players following.

The last Negro League teams folded in the early 1960s, but their league lives on through the surviving player and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.