You may know that Jackie Robinson was the first African American major league baseball player who is credited with breaking the baseball color line. What you may not know is that he was also very active in the Civil Rights Movement.
Jackie Robinson was born into poverty in 1919 during a Spanish flu and smallpox epidemic. Sharecropper family moved to Pasadena California after being abandoned by his father. He was a gang member for some years during his youth. After leaving the gang, he graduated from John Muir High school where he played baseball, football, basketball, tennis, and track and field. He attended Pasadena Junior College where he played football and baseball. In spite of some legal troubles, he went on to attend the University of California where he was the first athlete to win varsity letters in baseball, basketball, football and track. He dropped out of the college for financial reasons before graduating. He worked as a National Youth Administration for a short time before playing as a semi professional football player for the Honolulu Bears, a racially integrated team. Jackie Robinson was then drafted into the army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served for two years.
Jackie Robinson became the first African American baseball player in the major leagues after first playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers Triple-A farm club where he was not allowed to play in cities like Jacksonville and Sanford. Branch Rickey, the general manager who recruited him warned him that he would facie tremendous problems as the first black player in the major leagues in fifty-seven years. Robinson was harassed by players from his and opposing teams as well and fans. Team members threatened to sit out, and opposing teams threatened to strike if Robinson played. In the end, management and NL President stood up for him. He was publicly supported by teammates Pee Wee Reese and Hank Greenberg.
By 1950, Jackie Robinson was the highest paid player in Dodgers history and he had become verbal in regards to racism and discrimination. He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1949 and in 1952, he blasted the Yankees for still having no Black on their team. Jackie Robinson retired shortly after being traded to the New York Giants due to physical health and family commitments. He hoped to manage or coach a major league team after his retirement but received no offers.
Jackie Robinson’s post baseball career included being vice-president for Chock Full O’ Nuts and serving on the board of the NAACP. He the first African American inducted into the Baseball hall of Fame, and served as an analyst for TV telecasts. His number (42) was retired in 1972. In his final public appearance, he expressed his wish that a black manager be hired for a Major League Baseball Team. This happened in 1974 when Frank Robinson was hired to manage the Cleveland Indians. Jackie Robinson died of diabetes complications on October 24, 1972. His wife Rachel Robinson and two of his three children survived him.
