‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎Jackie’s Story

Jackie Robinson was born Jan 31, 1919 in Cairo, Ga., and moved to Pasadena, Calif. with his family just one year later. As a young student at John Muir Technical High School, he excelled in baseball and track, and took his talents with him to UCLA to continue playing baseball and running track, as well as playing football and basketball. To this day, he is still the only athlete in UCLA’s history to have lettered in four sports.

In April 1942, Robinson was drafted into the United States Army. While serving, he challenged the Army to include African American soldiers in Officer Candidate School, after which he was accepted and commissioned as a second lieutenant. On Aug. 2, 1944, he was arrested in Fort Hood, Texas for sitting in the front of an Army bus; he was found not guilty of all charges in court and was honorably discharged later that year due to an ankle injury.

In the spring of 1945, Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs, a baseball team in the Negro Leagues. In October of the same year, Branch Rickey, the President and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Robinson to play with the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers’ farm team at the time.

On Feb. 10, 1946, Robinson married Rachel Isum in Los Angeles, six years after meeting as students at UCLA. In November of that year, the couple’s first son, Jackie Jr. was born.

After signing a contract just five days earlier, Jackie Robinson made his legendary debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, becoming the first African American to play for a major league team. Following a successful first season, he won Sporting News’ first-ever “Rookie of the Year Award” that September, proving to the world his talent and determination in the face of adversity.

At the time, many professional players would take on jobs in the off-season to support their families, and Robinson was no exception. In November 1948, he and Roy Campanella worked as coaches and counselors in the Boy’s Work Department of the Harlem YMCA, demonstrating their commitment to giving back to the community.

In the fall of 1949, Robinson was named the National League’s MVP. Just a few months later in January 1950, he and Rachel’s second child and only daughter, Sharon, was born.

On Feb. 4, 1952, Robinson took on the role of Director of Community Activities with WNBC and WNBT, delivering commentary on air and supervising the development of youth programs in collaboration with organizations such as the Catholic Youth Organization, the Boy Scouts, and the YMCA. In May of the same year, he and Rachel’s third and youngest child, David, was born.

On Dec. 7, 1956, the NAACP announced that Robinson will receive its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, for his professional and personal achievements. Just more than one month later on Jan. 14, 1957, he announced his decision to retire from baseball, as well as the next step in his career as Vice President of Personnel Relations for the Chock full o’Nuts corporation. In this role, he convinced the company to support his efforts to raise money to fight for equal rights for people of color, as he was also chair of the NAACP’s Fight for Freedom Fund.

The late 1950s and early 1960s saw Robinson devote much of his time to the NAACP and its efforts to support equal rights for people of color. He fundraised for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference organization, was elected to the NAACP’s Board of Directors, and joined fellow NAACP members for a telephone call with Daisy Bates and seven of the Little Rock 9 to provide encouragement for their efforts in integrating Central High. In 1963, he and Rachel hosted a jazz concert at their home in Stamford, Conn. to raise bail money for civil rights activists jailed in the South, and the entire Robinson family attended the March on Washington, present for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Five and a half years after announcement of his retirement, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 23, 1962, sealing his legacy as one of the all-time greats in Major League Baseball history.

In his final years, Robinson continued his community outreach efforts, including co-founding the Freedom National Bank in 1965 (which became the largest black-owned and operated bank in New York State) and being appointed to Special Assistant for Community Affairs by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

Just more than one year after his son Jackie Jr. tragically died in a car accident in June of 1971, Jackie Robinson passed away of a heart attack in his home in Stamford, Conn. on Oct. 24, 1972, at age 53.

Following the death of her husband, Rachel Robinson went on to lead several of she and Jackie’s community efforts. She became President of the Jackie Robinson Construction Corporation that they both founded, renaming it the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation and supporting the building of 1,600 low-to-moderate income housing units. In 1973, she established the Jackie Robinson Foundation to provide four-year scholarships, hands-on mentoring, and leadership development opportunities to college students with limited financial resources.

Robinson’s posthumously awarded accolades include several commemorative stamps from the U.S. Postal Service, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan, and the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush. On the 50th anniversary of his historic major league debut, Robinson’s number 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball on April 15, 1997, the only number in baseball to be retired across the league.

In 2020, the Jackie Robinson Museum will open to commemorate the life and legacy of this American hero, and to continue to teach the youth of today how he changed the game of baseball and the world forever.