Buck O’Neil Residence

3049 East 32nd Street stands as the home of one of the most important names not only in Kansas City History, but American Major League Baseball History and African American History, it was the residence of the first African American Coach in Major League Baseball, John Jordan “Buck” O’Neill Jr. O’Neil is recognized as the first African American Major League Baseball Coach and is considered not only to be one of the best Negro League Baseball players but one of the best baseball players of all time. His experiences that he shared detailing his life during segregation helped people better understand the time period of the Negro Leagues and helped people learn more about the history of baseball.

O’Neill moved into the residence in the 1940’s during the time of segregation and racial divide in the United States and Major League Baseball. O’Neil and his family lived in this very peaceful and modest two-story house that many would not expect a Baseball Legend to dwell in. Those who knew O’Neil however, claimed the home was “exactly the type of house he would buy.” He was never considered one to care about shine and display and was said to have “lived simple with the only extravagant possession he owned being his clothes.”

In 2012, a local Kansas City church organization called the Friends of Community Preservation began a home restoration project to preserve O’Neil’s home after his passing in 2006, when O’Neil had willed his home to the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church worked with the Friends of Community Preservation who endeavored to promote the home as a site of historical significance to Kansas City and Major League Baseball. The site would also, after restoration, serve as a beacon of racial and economic hope in a struggling area of Kansas City, Missouri as the goal of the Friends of Community Preservation was to eventually turn the home into an educational tutoring center and museum dedicated to O’Neil’s baseball career. The Friends of Community Preservation moved in and began repairs of O’Neil’s home and saw completion of roof repairs, soffits, and electricity.

As the Friends of Community Preservation were unable to meet their final goal, the Buck O’Neill home remains in a partially-restored state. Despite that the plans of the Friends of Community Preservation to revitalize and repurpose O’Neil’s home had not come to fruition, O’Neil’s legacy lives on today as O’Neil is credited as being one of the most significant figures in Negro League Baseball for his sportsmanship and activism and was recognized by Kansas City for his achievements in preservation of African American History. He is remembered through the establishment of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. O’Neill is also recognized by multiple awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and is honored by having the Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat at Kauffman Stadium and the Buck O’Neil Bridge named after his legacy.

References

History on the Buck O’Neil home provided by Lorene James and the Friends of Community Preservation.

“Group works to restore Buck O’Neil’s old house”. KMBC 9. Youtube. Sep. 10 2012

“Buck O’Neil’s Home for Sale”. KMBC 9. Youtube. Nov. 9 2007.

Content Provided by

Michale M. Rehm, student at the University of Missouri Kansas City as part of Dr. Sandra Enriquez’s Urban History Class.