The glory days of Negro League baseball in Newark a half-century ago were celebrated in a series of events on Thursday and Friday, September 13 and 14.

The Newark Preservation & Landmarks Committee paid tribute to the Newark Eagles, who played in the city from 1936 to 1948. The Eagles won the Negro League World Series in 1946—drew 120,000 fans to the old Ruppert Stadium in the Ironbound section of the city.

Four of the six surviving players from the Eagles came back to Newark and relatives of others who have died also attended. They were saluted in a ceremony at the Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium and a reception at The Newark Museum . The Eagles were an important source of entertainment and civic pride for Newark ’s African-American community, and for the city as a whole,” said Anthony Schuman, an architecture professor at N.J. Institute of Technology who chairs the celebration.

The Negro Leagues flourished through the 1930s and ’40s, but declined and disbanded after Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby crossed the color line into the majors in 1947. Some Negro League players who integrated the big leagues – and some who never had the chance, in spite of their talents – subsequently won recognition at the National Hall of Fame in Cooperstown , N.Y.

 The celebratory events included the dedication of historical plaques at the Wilson Avenue site of Ruppert Stadium, which was razed 40 years ago, and the house on Crawford Street where Effa Manley, co-owner and business manager of the Eagles, lived and worked. She died in 1981, and last year became the first woman ever named to the Hall of Fame.