As the boys of summer arrive at the midpoint of the 2005 season, the folks at Roadway Express have come up with a very special way to link their 75th anniversary celebration with the national pastime. Roadway is honoring the legendary players and teams who were part of the old Negro Leagues with a specially developed mobile museum that is touring the country, with stops planned at 22 major league baseball parks.
The mobile museum is installed on a 53-foot Roadway trailer. It features samples of the permanent collection of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, which highlights the accomplishments and artifacts of players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Buck O'Neil, who at 93, serves as the museum's chairman. On display through Oct. 1, the exhibit features historic photos, uniforms and other memorabilia from the original 24 Negro League baseball teams, chronicling a time when black players were not allowed to play in the major leagues.
"The Negro Leagues story is one of unexpected innovation, inspiration; tenacity and a legendary lineage," notes Bob Stull, president of Roadway Express. "It is a unique and powerful narrative that deserves to be shared. Most of these great players did not receive the recognition they deserved in their lifetimes and we owe it to them to keep them alive in our memories and to educate our children about their exploits and accomplishments."
