Community has always been one of the most important pillars of the Little League® program, and today serves as one of the five key values of the nonprofit organization, but for a number of local leagues around the world, the name of the league tells a story far past just the city in which it exists.
As Little League celebrates Black History Month, take a look at just some of the Black pioneers who have not only inspired the name of local leagues across the United States, but have led with integrity to pave paths so that children today can have an inclusive environment within their community to enjoy the Little League experience.
Mamie Johnson
Mamie “Peanut” Johnson made a name for herself in the early 1950s when the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues signed her as their new right-handed pitcher. Since then, Johnson’s legacy and name have lived on in film, street names, and a Little League® program in Washington, D.C.
Mamie Johnson Little League (Washington, D.C.), a program rooted within the Little League Urban Initiative, chartered its first teams in 2015, providing boys and girls within the South Washington area a place to play the games they love for the past decade. Learn more about why the Little Leaguers®, families, and volunteers continue to honor Johnson’s legacy every time they step on the diamond:
Frederick Douglass
As an enslaved young man who grew up to become one of the most important leaders of the African American civil rights movement in the 19th century, Frederick Douglass has served as an image of hope for millions across the country. Specifically in Indianapolis, Indiana, he has served as an inspiration for the Little Leaguers, families, and volunteers of Douglass Little League.
First chartered in 1954, this Urban Initiative program started holding practices and playing games at Frederick Douglass Park. While games are now played at Oscar Charlston Park – named after an influential contributor to the Negro League in Indianapolis – Douglass Little League hosts an essay contest every season about both the park and program’s history, so the athletes continue to learn and honor its roots.
Outside of honoring their namesakes, Douglass Little League also recognizes those who have made an impact on the program throughout the last several decades. In June 2025, the league celebrated Robert LaRue, the third African American architect in Indiana who served as an airplane armorer with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and later spearheaded the design of Douglass Little League’s concession stand and storage facility.
Josh Gibson
While Josh Gibson never had the chance to play on a Major League Baseball (MLB) diamond, his name remains etched in baseball history. A superstar of the Negro Leagues, Gibson is remembered as the greatest slugger in the league for the two decades he played before its integration with MLB.
Today, not only is Gibson memorialized in the National Baseball Hall of Fame (Class of 1972), but his legacy also lives on through Gibson Little League in Buena Vista, Georgia. Established in 2025 to rebuild the youth baseball and softball opportunities in the area, the league is named in memory of Gibson, who was born in Buena Vista, and is part of Little League’s Urban Initiative in Georgia District 8.
Jackie Robinson
As the first African American to play in the Major Leagues in the modern era – making his debut in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers – Jackie Robinson and his uniform number, 42, will forever be remembered by the baseball community. While he never played Little League – because he was 20 the year it was founded – Robinson’s impact was always felt in youth baseball, and he later served as a commentator for ABC’s coverage of the 1965 Little League Baseball® World Series. Today, his legacy lives on in Little League with a number of programs honoring him through their league name.
- Jackie Robinson LL (Jersey City, New Jersey)
- Jackie Robinson South Ward LL (Newark, New Jersey)
- Jackie Robinson West LL (Chicago, Illinois)
Robinson is also featured in The World of Little League® Museum. In 2007, as part of President George W. Bush’s Tee Ball on the South Lawn Initiative, a game featuring teams from Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California, was hosted in honor of Robinson, with every Little Leaguer wearing his uniform number. On the fence of the game was a disc also displaying the number 42, which is now on display in The World of Little League Museum.
To learn more about how Little League is celebrating Black History Month, visit LittleLeague.org/BlackHistoryMonth or check out Little League’s social media channels (@LittleLeague).