Kansas City has officially been named the location for the only advanced screening available to the general public for the film 42, which chronicles the Rookie of the Year season of baseball great and legendary African-American athlete Jackie Robinson.
According to VCStar, all proceeds collected from the screening of the film, which gets its title from Robinson’s retired uniform number, will go to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, said museum president Bob Kendrick.
Kendrick goes on to explain that while Robinson’s story is well-known in Brooklyn, New York, many people are unaware of the importance of Kansas City in his baseball career. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs, which was apart of the baseball’s historic Negro Leagues.
It is only fitting that for this reason, perhaps, the public screening be held in Kansas City.
Eventually, Robinson claimed the title of Rookie of the Year in 1947 after joining the Dodgers and leaving the minor leagues. It is around this time period in which 42 will outline the baseball legend’s life.
The Negro Leagues museum is in dire need of the proceeds, especially after it hit a financial low in 2006 following the death of ones of its founders, Kansas City Monarchs player Buck O’Neil. Although it nearly closed down in 2010, thanks to the major league All-Star Game hosted in Kansas City, it received a much-needed financial revival.
42 will premier nationwide April 12, three days before the 66th anniversary of Robinson’s first game as a team player with the Dodgers.
