2022 SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference

With travel restrictions and public health measures still in place due to the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, has been rescheduled for the summer of 2022.

The next in-person Malloy Conference will be held on June 2-4, 2022, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel in Birmingham.

Any members who requested a roll-over from their 2020 registration will have their fees automatically refunded to their credit card on file. Please contact the SABR office with any questions.

The Negro Leagues Committee is one of SABR’s original committees, formed in 1971. It has continued to preserve and highlight the contributions of African-American players in baseball history.

For questions, email Larry Lester at NTResearch@comcast.net or Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu.


About the Conference

The Malloy Conference promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. Since 1998, the event has been the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination and promotion of Black baseball history. The conference is open to baseball and history fans of all ages. Each year, monies are targeted to donate books to schools or libraries; raise funds for the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project; and award scholarships to high school seniors in a nationwide essay contest and an annual art contest.

The Negro Leagues Committee is one of SABR’s original committees, formed in 1971. It has continued to preserve and highlight the contributions of African-American players in baseball history. The committee published the landmark The Negro Leagues Book in 1994, which featured a complete register of more than 3,000 players, team rosters and in-depth histories from leagues of the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth.


2022 Call for Papers

The interdisciplinary Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference welcomes proposals for oral and poster presentations from all research fields. Previous presenters have included college faculty, public school teachers, graduate students, and independent scholars. Presentations may focus on any topic related to the Negro League centennial, black baseball in Birmingham, or other related topics, especially the Negro Southern League. Some possibilities include: Rube Foster; the 1920 season; the formation of the NSL, the formation of the NNL, the original eight teams, and so much more.

Proposals should include a 250-word abstract, plus a brief biographical note with contact information. For oral presentations, please indicate whether you will require any AV equipment. For poster presentations, please indicate the number and size of posters you wish to display.

Please email your proposal as a Word attachment to Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu before March 1, 2022.

Art Contest

SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee will hold its 11th annual Art Contest in 2021. Click here to download the PDF application, with information on eligibility requirements and submission criteria. The cost is $30 for professionals and amateurs (up to three entries). The deadline to apply is September 15, 2021.

Click here to download the PDF application for the Youth Art Contest, for artists under the age of 16. The cost is $10 (up to three entries.)

The winning artist in the professional and amateur categories will each receive a $150 prize. The winner of the Youth Art Contest will receive a $100 prize. All schools that enter students will have their name placed in a drawing and two winners will be chosen. The winning schools will each receive $250 worth of age appropriate books about Negro League baseball for their libraries. Photos of winning entries will be displayed in an upcoming edition of Black Ball: A Negro Leagues Journal. Questions can be directed to Leslie Heaphy (Lheaphy@kent.edu).

Dick Clark Memorial Library Grants

SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee will award two $500 Dick Clark Memorial Library Grants for 2021. School and community libraries from across the country are invited to submit grant proposals centering on educating students and the community about black baseball and American history. Stay tuned for the PDF application to be posted here. Questions can be directed to Leslie Heaphy (Lheaphy@kent.edu), Mark Moore (mmoore@cpl.org), Tim Bottorff (tbottorf@mail.ucf.edu), or Marlene Vogelsang (mvogelsang@sbcglobal.net).   

From Rube to Robinson: SABR’s Best Articles on Black Baseball

One of our newest publications from the SABR Digital Library brings together the best Negro League baseball scholarship that SABR has ever produced, pulled from its journals, Biography Project, and award-winning essays. The book includes a star-studded list of scholars and historians, from the late Jerry Malloy and Jules Tygiel, to award winners Larry Lester, Geri Strecker, and Jeremy Beer, and a host of other talented writers. The essays cover topics ranging over nearly a century, from 1866 and the earliest known Black baseball championship, to 1962 and the end of the Negro American League. Click here to learn more or download the e-book. SABR members can download the e-book edition for free or get 50% off the paperback edition.

Who was Jerry Malloy?

Click a link below for highlights from past Jerry Malloy Conferences:

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