Kansas City has long been one of the busiest Jazz scenes. Adjacent to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is the American Jazz Museum. The museum is fairly small, and there are not very many displays that are photo-worthy. Louis “Satchmo” ArmstrongLouis Armstrong’s trumpet.Charlie “Bird” ParkerDuke EllingtonElla Fitzgerald’s dressTypical neon signs from the heyday of Kansas City Jazz.The Blue Room, a typical jazz club.
Major League Baseball was segregated for most of the first half of the 20th century, and during the time when African-Americans were not allowed to play in the big leagues, they did have their own baseball leagues. This museum honors those players who should have been able to play with the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but were not allowed. Kansas City was a major hub for Negro Leagues baseball.The biggest star of the Negro Leagues was unquestionably Satchel Paige. He was a great pitcher, and quite a character too.Replica of Satchel Paige’s uniform.Hotel lobby.Typical “Sleeping Room” in black hotels in the 1940s.1946 was the year that the possibility of blacks in the big leagues started to become a reality.Jackie Robinson became the first black major league player in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers.Josh Gibson was considered the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues.Jackie Robinson birthplace marker, on loan to the museum from Cairo GA.Uniforms of the Negro League teams.Pretty cool sculptures set up like an All-star game, with the greatest Negro Leagues players in position.Satchel PaigeCool Papa BellOscar CharlestonLeon GrayBuck LeonardJohn Henry LloydJudy JohnsonRay DandridgeBatting: Martin Dihigo Catching: Josh Gibson Umpire: Bob Motley Manager (behind the fence): Buck O’Neil
We had dinner here, at the Majestic, Kansas City’s steakhouse,The Majestic is also a Jazz club, but jazz combos were not playing the night we were there.There was a piano player, however.Kansas City strip.Twin Filets Oscar style.Creme brulee.
Union Station, like many across the country, once was bustling with train traffic and passengers. Now, it’s little more than a venue for shows and and couple restaurants.Electric baggage wagon and cart from 1914.Kansas City Massacre 1933 story.Bullet hole from the shootout.Another one.
