considered the prototypes for Negro league baseball: Southern League of Colored Base Ballists, 1886 National Colored Baseball League, 1887 Eventually, some teams were able to survive and even profit by barnstorming small towns and playing local semi-pro teams as well as league games. Two important leagues of this era are: International League of Independent Professional Base Ball Clubs, 1906. National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba, 1907–1909. Early Negro leagues were unable to attract and retain top talent due to financial, logistical and contractual difficulties. Some early dominant teams did not join a league since they could pull in larger profits independently. The early leagues were specifically structured as minor leagues. With the integration of Organized Baseball, beginning 1946, all leagues simply lost elite players to white leagues, and historians do not consider any Negro league "major" after 1950. A number of leagues from the major-league era (post-1900) are recognized as Negro minor leagues. A rule of thumb was leagues in the north were major while leagues in the south were minor, due mainly to population and economic disparities. Below are some of the better-documented leagues: Texas Colored League/Texas–Oklahoma–Louisiana League/Texas–Louisiana Negro League, 1919–1931 Negro Southern League (I), 1920–1936 – considered a de facto major league in 1932 because it was the only league to play a full season schedule due to the Great Depression Negro Southeastern League, 1921 Interstate League, 1926 and 1940 (mixed-race league) Tri State League, 1935 Negro American Association, 1939 and 1948–1949 Negro Major League, 1942 By default, leagues established after integration are considered minor league, as is the one of two 1940s majors that continued after 1950. Also at this time, leagues began to appear in the west, just as in other sports, due to the post-War boom and improved transportation modes. Below are some of the better-documented leagues: Negro Southern League (II), 1945–1951 United States League, 1945–1946 West Coast Negro Baseball Association, 1946 East Texas Negro League, 1946 Negro Texas League, 1949 Negro American League, 1951–1960 – considered a major league from 1937 until integration diminished the quality of play around 1950/51 Arkansas–Louisiana–Texas League, 1951 Eastern Negro League, 1954 Negro National Baseball Association, 1954 The Negro leagues and the Hall of Fame In his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech in 1966, Ted Williams made a strong plea for inclusion of Negro league stars in the Hall. After the publication