Kansas native John B. McLendon is remembered as an innovative basketball tactician and the last living protégé of James Naismith, basketball’s inventor; but his efforts to break through the color lines of institutional racism in college and professional athletics are equally impressive.

Milton S. Katz discusses McLendon’s accomplishments on Sunday, November 21, 2010, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

McLendon was the first black coach of an integrated professional team and the first black coach inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Katz is a professor of American Studies in the School of Liberal Arts at the Kansas City Art Institute.

This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.