Kansas City Had A Mexican American Women's Softball Team in 1939

Eleven women look into the camera wearing matching Azteca jerseys. Gloves rest in their hands, and two bats cross at their feet. The photograph was taken in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1939. It shows the Lady Aztecas as they wanted to be seen: together, in uniform, and ready to play.

Their team was part of a much larger story. Mexican Americans in Kansas City had been excluded from local white leagues, so they organized their own. Churches and employers often helped support teams, and the Aztecas became part of a community sports tradition that included both men’s and women’s baseball and fast-pitch softball.

For Mexican American women in the 1930s, a team offered more than a chance to compete. At a time when segregation shaped access to schools, jobs and recreation, softball gave women a public place to show their skill, build friendships and represent their community. Teams like the Lady Aztecas made that space possible.

The Smithsonian featured the Lady Aztecas’ portrait in its ¡Pleibol! project, with the credit “Courtesy of Rose Arroyo in memory of Mary Montes.” The photograph keeps these women visible in a sports history that has too often left them out.