Author kicks off Juneteenth celebrations with Kansas City Monarchs presentation

Jun. 18—Author and historian Phil Dixon's goal in life is to preserve the records and documents of Black baseball players from the early 20th century and recount their life experiences.

"That's my mission," said Dixon, the author of nine books. "It's always been my mission. Never been about money, never been about fame. It's about correcting history and telling the true story."

Dixon, the co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, kicked off the Juneteenth celebrations Thursday with a presentation on the Kansas City Monarchs, an all Black baseball team that formed in 1920. The Monarchs won the first Negro World Series in 1924.

Shortly before Dixon's presentation at the new Douglass Activity Center, the crowd erupted in applause to celebrate President Joe Biden's signing a law to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

"It's about time," said Kitra Cooper, Manhattan resident.

Kevin Bryant, co-chair of the Manhattan Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee, said he was surprised Biden made it into law.

"I was shocked," he said.

Before Dixon detailed the team and player successes, he played the trumpet to a few songs, including "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Dixon said the Monarchs began playing the first night baseball games in Kansas ever in 1930, including Manhattan, Norton, Hutchinson and Pratt, among other cities.

"Most people don't know this history," Dixon said.

The Monarchs featured a homegrown player in George Giles, who grew up in Manhattan. Giles, born in 1909, joined the Monarchs in 1925, Dixon said.

Giles personally played an important role in Dixon's own life. Dixon interviewed him many times, and they developed a friendship. Giles died in 1992.

"When I sign autographs for my books, I always sign 'Yours in sports,'" Dixon said. "I got that from George Giles. That's the way he signed. I saw him do that. I said, 'Can I do that?' ... He said, 'Sure.' ... So I've been signing 'Yours in sports' for 40 years. And thank you, George Giles."

Dixon, a Kansas City native, has a passion for baseball, which led him to his writing and preservation endeavors. By the time Dixon was 19, he had collected 100,000 baseball cards.

"So that was the beginning," he said. "I learned about history on the backs of baseball cards."

Dixon has interviewed over 500 baseball players throughout his life penning books from "Wilber 'Bullet' Rogan and the Kansas City Monarchs" to "Andrew 'Rube' Foster, A Harvest on Freedom's Fields."

Bryant said after Dixon's presentations the connections and impact players like Giles made on Manhattan were defining.

"George Giles kind of understood the whole scheme of everything," Bryant said. "It's a whole bunch of connections."

Dixon said Thursday's presentation was his first in over a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cooper said she enjoyed listening to Dixon.

"I learned that there's a whole lot more to learn about the whole league and the history of baseball and how it all plays together with racism in America," Cooper said.

Juneteenth celebrations continue Friday with an Arts in the Park concert and several activities Saturday.