Stars of the Negro Baseball League - Digital Archive - Alexander Boeck

African American baseball players have been playing baseball since the nineteenth century, but the Negro League did not start until 1920 and ended in 1948. The Negro League was formed by Rube Foster who was also a player himself. He and other former baseball players created a league for black baseball players so that they could be in one league, and since they could not join the Major Leagues, it was a chance for them to be in some sort of league of their own.  --- (Baseball Hall of Fame, Negro National League)