Baseball: The Color Barrier, by Bob Kendrick

A Conversation on Race, hosted by the Dole Institute, this event features Bob Kendrick, executive director of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, on Baseball: The Color Barrier.

This event will be broadcast on the Dole Institute's YouTube channel, free. Find the link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75noRaW89Es or from the Dole Institute event page: https://doleinstitute.org/event/a-conversation-on-race-part-iii-baseball-the-color-barrier/

The third installment of the series “A Conversation on Race” will feature the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Bob Kendrick and will be moderated by Senior Associate Director of the Institute, Dr. Barbara W. Ballard.

“Since the founding of the first professional baseball league in this country, racism has been a persistent problem,” said Director Bill Lacy. “For the third episode of ‘A Conversation on Race,’ we will discuss the color barrier in baseball and the courageous men who broke through. Bob Kendrick is the ideal guest to explore this topic and we look forward to what will be a fascinating and insightful evening.”

The program will explore the factors that made Major League Baseball a flashpoint for civil rights in 1947, more than a decade before the marches and rallies of the 1960s. The event streams the day before Jackie Robinson Day, in which all Major League Baseball players wear jerseys with his number “42.” This program will discuss the man who became the focus of a nation as he walked on the field as the first professional black athlete in the U.S. to shatter the color barrier.

Bob Kendrick was named President of the NLBM in March of 2011. Kendrick has been responsible for the creation of several signature museum educational programs and events including the Hall of Game, which annually honors former MLB greats who played the game in the spirit and signature style of the Negro Leagues. Kendrick has become one of the leading authorities on the topic of Negro Leagues Baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race, and diversity.

Submit your questions for Mr. Kendrick to dolequestions@ku.edu for the question-and-answer portion of the program.