Iowa City Today

Historian and non-profit leader Bob Kendrick will speak at Coe College as the featured guest of the 19th K. Raymond Clark Contemporary Issues Forum. His visit will be Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium on Coe’s campus and is open to the public.

Kendrick is a community leader in the Kansas City area, and was appointed president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in 2011. Founded in 1990, the NLBM is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America.

While working as a journalist with the Kansas City Star, Kendrick began his association with the NLBM as a volunteer. He developed the advertising concept and campaign that helped attract more than 10,000 people to see the debut of the museum’s first traveling exhibit in the summer of 1993. The success of that promotion led to an appointment to the museum’s board of directors, eventually becoming the museum’s first director of marketing in 1998. Now, as president, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations and the development and implementation of strategies to advance the mission of the not-for-profit organization. Since 2011, he has helped orchestrate a nearly $20 million turnaround that has helped the NLBM regain its vitality and financial stability.

As a leading authority on Negro Leagues baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race and diversity, Kendrick has been a contributing writer for Ebony magazine and the National Urban League’s Opportunity magazine. In 2021, Kendrick teamed with SiriusXM Radio to create and host the acclaimed national podcast, “Black Diamonds.” The podcast was named the 2021 “Sports Podcast of the Year,” by Adweek.

Other accolades include the Mary Lona Diversity Award from the Greater Kansas City Black Chamber of Commerce and “Citizen of the Year” from the Omicron Xi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. In 2009, The Kansas City Globe named Kendrick to the paper’s list of “100 Most Influential African-Americans in Greater Kansas City.” He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Kansas City Call newspaper named him the “Person of the Year” in 2020.

Tickets may be purchased online at coe.edu/box-office or by phone at 319-399-8600. The event is free for Coe students, faculty and staff, while ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for non-Coe students and seniors. Virtual tickets are also available at coecollege.ticketleap.com/cif2023.

Established by the late K. Raymond Clark '30, the Contemporary Issues Forum presents the views of distinguished leaders whose work has shaped and altered the course of world events. The forum has featured former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, former Polish President Lech Walesa, deep-sea oceanographer Robert Ballard, civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau, ecology expert Jared Diamond, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts, celebrated author Sir Salman Rushdie, former Senate Majority Leader and Special Envoy George Mitchell, Pulitzer Prize-winning global health expert Laurie Garrett, legendary soccer player Abby Wambach, leading commentator on race Jelani Cobb, environmentalists and social entrepreneurs Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews, astrophysicist Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, director of the MIT AgeLab Dr. Joseph F. Coughlin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Coe College offers superb academics and exciting cocurricular activities in a thriving urban setting that promotes student growth and success. Established in 1851, Coe has a national reputation for academic excellence enhanced by a student-centered, highly supportive campus environment. Coe’s vibrant Cedar Rapids location provides an abundance of internships for students and career opportunities for graduates.

Original source can be found here.