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Which teams joined the first Negro National League in 1920?
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Negro league
The 1935 roster of the Negro league team the Pittsburgh Crawfords, including Cool Papa Bell (seventh from right), Josh Gibson (fourth from right), and Satchel Paige (second from right).
The first Negro National League (NNL) was established in 1920 following an organizational meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. The eight teams that joined the league were:
- Chicago American Giants
- Indianapolis ABCs
- Chicago Giants
- Kansas City Monarchs
- Detroit Stars
- St. Louis Giants
- Dayton Marcos
- Cuban Stars (which did not have a home city)1
While Rube Foster, the founder of the league, had initially envisioned a broader structure that included teams in eastern cities, only one eastern owner attended the inaugural meeting, preventing the formation of an eastern circuit at that time.1