The leagues came later. Leagues included the Eastern Colored League (formed by Ed Bolden in 1923), the Negro National League (organized by Andrew "Rube" Foster in 1921), the American Negro League (organized in 1929), the East - West League (organized in 1932), the Negro Southern League (organized in 1932), Texas Negro League (organized around 1930) and the Negro American League (organized in 1937). The first one was the Negro National League. It was the first, financially successful, all-black league. The Negro National League was formed in the 1920s. The teams in it were: Kansas City Monarchs; Indianapolis ABCs; Dayton Marcos; Chicago Giants; Detroit Giants; St. Louis Stars; Cuban Giants, and Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants.

Andrew "Rube" Foster (a Negro) was the President of the Negro National League (NNL), which organized in 1920, and the Chicago American Giants, which organized in 1911. He was also the organizer of Negro League Baseball in 1920. That is why he is called the "Father of Negro League Baseball".

In the 1930s and 1940s, Gus Greenlee, the owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, formed a new Negro National League. The Negro American League represented Negro Baseball’s premier leagues, although the Negro Southern League and Texas Negro League, which were organized around 1930, fielded high caliber professionals, as well.