When Rube Foster convened the meeting that gave birth to the first-ever national league of professional black ballclubs, J.L. "Wilkie" Wilkinson was the only white face in the room. Wilkinson, prospective owner of the Kansas City Monarchs, shared the floor with five other team owners, three sportswriters and an attorney—practically all of whom had originally envisioned the Negro National League (NNL) as an all-black enterprise. In fact, the NNL's entire reason for being stemmed from decades of economic exploitation by white booking agents and dealmakers who controlled stadiums, extorted gate receipts, used Jim Crow-style discrimination, and essentially held black baseball hostage at every turn.

Foster sought to end those days of Booker T. Washington-style accommodation and adopt a revolutionary Duboisian approach. He wanted to consolidate power—and profits—in black hands where it rightfully belonged. But what to do about Wilkinson? Here was the one white man whom the black-baseball community held in high regard, and whose stature in Kansas City—an important strategic location for the NNL—necessitated his participation. A former player, Wilkinson had made his name in the early 1910s as head of the popular All Nations barnstorming team, which toured the Mdwest with a motley band of blacks, whites, Cubans, Native Americans, Europeans, Hawaiians, Filipinos, Asians and Jews. All Nations was a force to be reckoned with: Jose Mendez and John Donaldson dominated the mound, Cristobal Torriente wielded a mighty bat, and Frank Blattner excelled at every defensive position. What's more, Wilkinson gave P.T. Barnum a run for his money by making each game a festive spectacle. All Nations arrived by private Pullman coach with its own bleachers, awnings and fences, while the accompanying entertainment featured a wrestling squad and orchestra.

So too did J.L. Wilkinson win over the hearts of Foster and the other Negro National League owners. They even elected him to the position of league secretary. Indeed, outside of Foster and the NNL's heralded stars, few public figures did more to promote and burnish the image of black baseball than Wilkinson, whose Kansas City Monarchs became the Yankee-like gold standard to which all other Negro League teams aspired. The long-standing franchise won more than a dozen championships, sent the most players to the Major Leagues, and showcased the talents of Cool Papa Bell, Bill Foster, Buck O'Neil, Bullet Rogan, Hilton Smith, Turkey Stearns, Willie Wells, Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson.

Wilkinson also famously introduced the first portable lighting system for night games. In 1948, a year after the color barrier fell, the 74-year-old "Monarch of the Monarchs" sold his ownership stake to partner Tom Baird. Wilkinson died in 1964 and received induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously in 2006. Given the illustrious past of the Kansas City Monarchs, the Negro National League and J.L. Wilkinson himself, one might expect the franchise's seminal document to rest in the private holdings of either the Hall of Fame or the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Yet here it is: The actual legal contract, dated December 22, 1919, signed by both Wilkinson and Tom “T.Y.” Baird, to formally establish the Kansas City Monarch Base Ball Club. Yes, this is the cosmic Big Bang where it all began—every Monarch milestone traces back to these immortal words: "WHEREAS, the parties hereto are mutually interested in the promotion of base ball, it is hereby agreed by and between said parties that they do hereby enter into and form a partnership, consisting of T.Y. Baird and J.L. Wilkinson, for the promotion, organization and management of a baseball team, to be known as the Kansas City Monarch Base Ball Club."

That very preamble is the "We the People ..." of black baseball's Declaration of Interdependence. The treatise further states that "they shall organize a base ball team, consisting of as many members as the parties hereto deem advisable, and that they shall obtain a franchise from the National Negro Base Ball League, to be used for the purpose of being a member of said National Negro Base Ball League, with permission in said franchise to have the team to be organized by the parties hereto, to have its home and play base ball in Kansas City, Missouri and in various other cities of the United States against other teams or members of said League."

This historic 1919 Contract for the legal formation of the Kansas City Monarchs was signed by J.L. Wilkinson and his partner Baird. In terms of preservation, the 8 ½ x 14 inch contract displays consistent mild toning, light wrinkling and occasional tiny spots of paper loss along the center horizontal fold line and left/top perimeter. Imagine, if you will, that such a foundational document for the New York Yankees were to reach the auction block—a binding legal agreement that literally christened the Franchise That Ruth Built. By the standards of the Negro Leagues, this offering is no less significant. If anything, it carries the added gravity of monumental social, cultural and political importance in the evolution of American civil rights.

In full, the document reads: “CONTRACT AND AGREEMENT - THIS AGREEMENT, entered into this 22nd day of December, 1919, by and between T.Y. Baird of Kansas City, Kansas and J.L. Wilkinson of Kansas City, Missouri, witnesseth: WHEREAS, the parties herto are mutually interested in the promotion of base ball, it is hereby agreed by and between said parties that they do hereby enter into and form a partnership, consisting of T.Y. Baird and J.L. Wilkinson, for the promotion, organization and management of a baseball team, to be known as the Kansas City Monarch Base Ball Club. It is further agreed that each of the parties herto shall share the expenses of organizing, promoting and carrying on said Monarch Base Ball Club, share and share alike, and each shall share one-half of the the expenses of conducting said team. It is further agreed that the parties hereto are to devote all the time that is necessary to carrying on said business and will give the businesss of the partnership the preference in the time to be devoted to the same over any other business either of the parties hereto may now or hereafter have; said parties agree that they shall organize a base ball team, consisting of as many members as the parties hereto deem advisable, and that they shall obtain a franchise from the National Negro Base Ball League, to be used for the purpose of being a member of said National Negro Base Ball League, with permission in said franchise to have the team to be organized by the parties hereto, to have its home and play base ball in Kansas City, Missouri and in various other cities of the United States against other teams or members of said League. It is further agreed that neither of the parties hereto will sell, assign or transfer any interest in said franchise or the property or assets now owned or hereafter to be acquired by either of said parties, including the franchise to be obtained from the National Negro Base Ball League without the mutual consent of the other party hereto, and will not consent to the transfer of said franchise to any other place or city without the consent of the other party hereto, and it is further agreed that any interest now or heareafter acquired by either of said parties in or to the franchise herein mentioned shall be owned jointly by the parties hereto in equal shares, it being mutually understood and agreed that the parties hereto shall own an equal interest in everything pertaining to the matter of organizing said Base Ball Club. It is further agreed that the contract and agreement herein entered into shall be in full force and effect for a period of ten years from this date, unless the same is sooner dissolved and set aside by the mutual conset of the parties hereto. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have subscribed their names and set their hands this ___ day of December, 1919.” This historic document comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (S03838).

Auction Notepad