Photo via Beckum Stapleton Little League
Beckum Stapleton Little League
Beckum Stapleton Little League
On November 22, 2024, Beckum Stapleton Little League will hold its “Honoring Our Past, Embracing Our Present, Reaching for Our Future” Fundraising Gala. The theme for this year’s gathering is “95/60,” as the event is celebrating both the 95th birthday of league founder James Beckum, along with the 60th anniversary of the league itself. As such numbers suggest, Beckum Stapleton is more than a youth sports organization; it is a community institution.
As Beckum Stapleton board member Cassondra Frazier explains, there would be no Beckum Stapleton Little League without James Beckum. Beckum, one of the last remaining players from baseball’s Negro League, has served as “Leader, Administrator, Director, Teacher, Coach, Umpire, and Caretaker” for the league since its humble beginnings in 1964, when Beckum was asked by a Milwaukee pastor to organize an activity for the city’s African American youth. Working with a group of inner-city churches, Beckum approached County League Manager Chuck Stapleton with a vision for a youth baseball league. Stapleton would sign on as the league’s safety officer, and the Beckum Stapleton Little League would formally launch in 1965. It is now the oldest African American Little League outside of the South.
Rodney Bourrage, Sr. joined the league in 1970, after being denied a tryout with another youth baseball team. The fact that Beckum Stapleton welcomed him with open arms has remained with Bourrage, Sr. for well over 50 years. “There are thousands of these types of stories,” explains Bourrage, Sr., “of my hero, Mr. Beckum.” And as Founder of the Beckum Stapleton Little League Museum, Bourrage Sr. hopes to collect as many of these stories as possible.
For the past three years, he has worked with faculty and students from such institutions as the UW-Milwaukee, Marquette University, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) to collect the oral histories of past and present league officials, players, and other key actors. Such histories will be a focal point of an upcoming exhibition on the league’s history, to be on display at MSOE’s Grohmann Museum this coming spring.
One can be sure that many stories about both Beckum and about hard-fought battles on the baseball diamond will be shared on November 22. Yet the creation of new stories is predicated upon the health and wellbeing of the league. Funds raised through the gala will therefore go to things like maintaining the fields where young people will play baseball and softball this spring. But as Frazier points out, the importance of Beckum Stapleton extends far beyond providing young people access to such places of play. The league prides itself on “teaching them [the players] life skills they can use on and off the field. Participation in the gala thus becomes about giving “another generation the ability to grow and be impactful in our community in a positive way.”
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The gala will take place at Saint Kate Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Avenue, and starts with a welcome and cocktails at 5 p.m. Dinner and the evening’s program will begin at 7 p.m.; a silent auction will take place throughout the night. Michael Emem, President and CEO of the Emem Group and Beckum Stapleton alum, will provide the evening’s keynote address. More information can be found at: beckumstapletonll.org
James Beckum passed away on November 11 at the age of 95.
