Museum of Negro Leagues Baseball Finds Home in Owings Mills Library

The Hubert V. Simmons Museum of Negro Leagues Baseball, Inc., formerly known as Negro Leagues Baseball Museum of Maryland, Inc., will officially be welcomed to its new home at the Owings Mills library in a public ceremony on Nov. 20.      

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will announce the permanent residence of The Hubert V. Simmons Museum of Negro Leagues Baseball, Inc. in the Owings Mills branch of the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL). 

The Museum will be part of the the new $30 million library in the Metro Center which also houses the Owings Mills campus of the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC).

Since 1996, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum of Maryland, Inc., has been housed in various temporary locations. Recently, the County offered to give it a permanent home in the new library, according to a news release.

Kamenetz will make the official announcement at a ceremony and honor the late "Bert" Simmons, who played for the legendary Baltimore Elite Giants in the 1950s.

Ray Banks, a life-long friend of Simmons and curator of the Museum, is gratified to have the new site for the approximately 1,000 artifacts presently in the Museum. 

Audrey Simmons, Bert's widow and executive director of the Museum, will be at the ceremony.  

The Museum should open in the spring of 2014 - just in time for "opening day," according to a news release.

The event will take place Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. at the Owings Mills Library, 10302 Grand Central Ave.