In Kansas City on Friday I had the great pleasures of, first, having breakfast with pioneering Negro Leagues historian Larry Lester and profiting from his insight and wisdom; and, second, inspecting the Oscar Charleston scrapbook, photo album, and other items that Lester obtained from Oscar’s niece Anna Charleston Bradley some years ago.

The items–which I am fairly certain passed from Oscar to his sister Katherine before being given to Anna–are at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Dr. Raymond Doswell, below, made them available for me, added his own insights while I looked them over and took photos, and then took me to lunch at Chappell’s.

Thanks so much to Larry and Ray. These items are pure gold for the Charleston researcher–or really anyone researching the Negro Leagues. They provide a window into Charleston’s interior world and contain his personal photos of other players and life in Cuba in the 1920s.