An exhibition dedicated to Milwaukee’s Beckum-Stapleton Little League is on display at the Grohmann Museum downtown. It's called “Going to Work for the Community: A Visual History of the Beckum-Stapleton Little League.”
James Beckum & Charles Stapleton founded the league in 1964. It's the oldest Black-led Little League outside of the South
The goal was to give young people in Milwaukee a positive outlet to be a part of in their community.
Since then, the Little League team has been about more than just playing baseball. It’s also been about mentorship, character building and supporting youth.
The exhibition tells the story of how this league, and the community support behind it, has changed the lives of more than 20,000 young people in Milwaukee for more than 60 years.
The history comes to life through pictures, awards, displays of baseball uniforms and interviews.
"The theme of the exhibition is ‘Going to Work for the Community,’ and we wanted to make it clear that the young people, but also the coaches, the volunteers — this was labor. They were working hard to make this work for the young people, for the city of Milwaukee," said Michael Carriere.
Carriere is a history professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He showed me around the gallery.
One of the most recognized figures behind the league is one of its founders, Mr. James Beckum. There are a few photos and video interviews of him included in the exhibition.
Beckum had a reputation for making young people feel respected and valued.
Part of that meant taking care of the baseball field at Carver Park on West Brown Street, where the Beckum-Stapleton Little League played.
"He showed up at 6 in the morning, he would be there until 8, 9 at night. He knew that the young people needed someone at times, and he was there," Carriere says.
"And so, just that presence — and he was there, I mean, there’s a wonderful photo in the exhibition of him preparing a field and he’s in his mid-80s. So, he continued to do this work well until, I mean, very close to the end of his life, which is just amazing," he adds.
Mr. Beckum died in November 2024.
But the exhibition highlights an important piece of Beckum-Stapleton Little League history: that Mr. Beckum wasn’t doing the work alone. People in the community put in work too.
For example, Carriere pointed out an image in the exhibition showing Beckum-Stapleton players participating in a local parade.
"It is an exhibition about baseball; you can’t get around that, but what the league understood was that that could be a jumping-off point for building a broader sense of community."
"So, very early on in the league’s history they start to do events like parades, and so this is a way for the young people to have some attention. They enjoy being in a parade, but also you can see that it brings out the community. It brings out people who have kids in the league, friends’ kids in the league. And it just becomes this really beautiful event of community," Carriere says.
That community, and the league, is still going strong today.
Asia Beckum, Mr. Beckum’s granddaughter, says the exhibition acknowledges Black people’s connection to baseball.
It’s an ode to Black Milwaukee’s love of baseball, culminating in support for the league.
Also, Mr. Beckum played in the Negro Leagues.
"Baseball, you know, that was one of our biggest contributors to our neighborhoods in the ’60s, especially the ’70s as well. Especially with the Negro Leagues and all of the Black players and the history that they have behind that," Asia Beckum says.
Asia Beckum is the executive director of the Beckum-Stapleton Little League; she provided much of the memorabilia for the exhibition. She also played in the Little League.
Asia says she didn’t realize the extent of the history and the impact of the league in Milwaukee until she saw the show for herself.
She described it as dope. She says with the theme Going to Work for the Community, it’s appropriately titled, both for how her grandfather showed up for the league and the people who supported him.
"The Black community has done nothing but put their boots behind making this happen. My grandfather, he gets a lot of accolades for it and a lot of awards, but there were some big major people within the Black community that made sure he was successful, that we don’t really get to talk about," she says.
But she adds that once the Beckum-Stapleton Little League creates a permanent museum space — a goal they’re working toward — the people behind the scenes will get even more attention.
This exhibition showcases how the Milwaukee community shows up for the Beckum-Stapleton Little League.
Asia Beckum emphasized that adults must show up for the kids today, like never before.
As was the original purpose for starting the Beckum-Stapleton Little League, she says we have to get the kids into something positive.
The exhibition runs through May 25.
