The heritage of Kansas City's African-American community is celebrated at the Horace M. Peterson III Visitor Center. Exhibits and a 15min film set the scene for visits to its two component museums. Across 18th Street, the renovated 500-seat Gem Theater (1912) hosts musical and theatrical productions. The history of African-American baseball-from post-Civil War origins to Jackie Robinson's admission to the major leagues in the late 1940s-is recounted in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Designed around a baseball diamond with real-game sound effects, it features bronzes of such famous players as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, "Cool Papa" Bell and Buck O'Neil, who chairs the museum today. Videos, artifacts and souvenirs recall a fascinating era in American sports history.