Postally-unused 1910 postcard featuring the Hopkins Brothers "Champion Ladies Baseball Club." Pictured in the back row of the postcard flanked by players (both male and female incidentally) is J.L Wilkinson. Probably best known as the founder of the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues, Wilkinson's female baseball team was founded in 1909 and toured the Midwest by train. By 1912 he had founded the All-Nations Team in Des Moines Iowa, which consisted of players from a variety of ethnic backgrounds as well as Hall of Famer Jose Mendez. Wilkinson took the best players from his All Nations team as well as an all-black US Army team and founded the Monarchs in 1920 the only white team owner at the time. A visionary, he signed Jackie Robinson to his first professional contract in 1945 and his Monarchs were the first pro team to play baseball at night. The image on this postcard is the only known image of Wilkinson in a baseball setting.