Associations of teams of black baseball players active largely between 1920 and the late 1940s. The principal leagues were the Negro National League, originally organized by Rube Foster in 1920, and the Negro American League, organized in 1937. The most noted teams included the Homestead (Pa.) Grays, who won nine pennants in the years 1937 – 45 and included the great hitters
Cool Papa Bell,
Buck Leonard, and
Josh Gibson. In the mid 1930s the Pittsburgh Crawfords included
Satchel Paige and the clutch-hitter William Julius "Judy" Johnson. The Kansas City Monarchs, after winning four national championships, lost
Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers; the breaking of the colour barrier in major and minor league baseball led to the Negro leagues' decline.
For more information on Negro leagues, visit Britannica.com.