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Phil S. Dixon, co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and prolific author of baseball history, will be the featured speaker. It is open to the public, and light refreshments will be served afterward.
Dixon is the author of nine books about baseball, including biographies about Wilber “Bullet” Rogan and John “Buck” O’Neil. In the course of his research, he has interviewed more than 500 former Negro League players and family members.
His talk will shed new light on this sport’s history and the history of baseball in Kansas, according to the Humanity Kansas Speakers Bureau.
In 2020, the Negro Leagues celebrated their 100th anniversary and Major League Baseball merged statistics of African American players with those of the major league. The history of Negro League baseball in America mirrors the racial strife experienced by African Americans in society: it was plagued with discrimination, racism, and inequity, while its athletes were celebrated for their resiliency, professionalism, and athleticism.
From 1920 to 1957, the Kansas City Monarchs barnstormed across Kansas and the region to play against local towns in more than 400 games.
Pitt State has a connection to the Negro Leagues: George Sweatt, the first Black athlete to letter in sports at Pitt State, played in the Negro Leagues in Kansas City. A George Sweatt exhibit is in progress in the reading room in Special Collections.
For additional information, call 620-235-4883 or visit axe.pittstate.edu/special-collections.
The annual memorial lecture is sponsored by the Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library to honor the memory of Gene DeGruson, a Southeast Kansas scholar, writer, editor, and pioneering archivist and former curator of Special Collections at Axe Library, who died in 1997.
DeGruson founded Special Collections in 1968 and spent 29 years building it into a rich treasure trove of knowledge on local history as well as an archive for Pittsburg State University. He also wrote and edited books and journals of poetry, history, and biography.
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
