NEW YORK – When Rachel Robinson and the foundation she started in honor of her barrier-breaking husband opened the Jackie Robinson Museum in Lower Manhattan in 2022, there was a clear mission in mind.
The museum would be a lasting testament to the life and career of a baseball hero and American icon, chronicling his trailblazing achievements on and off the field against the backdrop of the nation’s history. In this place, his story would be told for generations to come.
“We got a very strong directive from Rachel Robinson to make sure that we brought young people in,” said Della Britton, longtime president and CEO of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. “She wanted them very much to know the history. She wanted them to know how much her husband was in support of opportunities for everyone, regardless of whence they came.
“So yes, we wanted to appeal to all ages -- clearly we have an adult population that comes in with the historical background of Jackie Robinson’s story … but young people have been a real focus these three years.”
On Tuesday, when Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day, the museum was full of those young people as participants from several NYC/NJ Nike RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) programs and their families were invited to spend the day learning all about Jackie’s legacy.
A series of special guests were on hand to help facilitate their visit, including former MLB player and Commissioner’s Ambassador Program member Dellin Betances, former pro softball player and MLB Network host AJ Andrews, and former Gold Glove-winning second baseman and MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds.
Rachel Robinson, who is now 102 years old, made a special appearance as well, taking in the scene that she helped set into motion.
Betances, a four-time All-Star reliever for the Yankees and Mets, was visiting the museum for the first time, so he was learning alongside the kids as they explored the main gallery, which features a wall-to-wall timeline of Jackie’s career highlights and floor-to-ceiling pillars dedicated to his life beyond baseball -- including Jackie the Soldier, Jackie the Activist and Jackie the Entrepreneur.
A New York native who played most of his youth baseball in Brooklyn, Betances felt a kinship with the baseball and softball players in attendance, setting aside moments to sign autographs and take photos.
“I’m learning a lot walking around today, and I’m extremely excited and happy to be here with you guys just sharing this moment together,” Betances said. “Obviously, that’s what Jackie Robinson did. He brought a lot of people together. And being able to meet Rachel is a treat. Thank you and your husband for everything you were able to do to allow a lot of people to live out their dream. That’s what he did for me.”
Betances and Andrews also participated in a Q&A session for the kids, sharing the stories of their careers and offering advice about the discipline it took and the support they received in order to be successful in their sports and in their lives. Andrews, who hosts MLB Network’s kid-centric “Play Ball,” was the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove Award for her outfield prowess in National Pro Fastpitch in 2016, making her an example of a modern-day barrier-breaker.
“Before then, it was ‘impossible’ for a girl to win a Gold Glove, and then once I won, now it’s possible,” Andrews said, “not just to win a Gold Glove, but to do so many other things, to go after so many things that are considered impossible and become the first to make that happen, to make it possible. I was really excited for all the possibilities and all the doors that were open and the glass ceilings that were also waiting to be broken.”
The artifacts, videos and interactive displays throughout the museum -- most of which come from the Robinson family’s personal collection -- center on that idea of Jackie being the first but not the last, serving as inspiration to future ballplayers and the general public alike.
“Rachel Robinson, she’s a big part of this story, too,” Reynolds said. “We do not have a lot of the things that we have been able to see through the years if she wasn’t saving these things. She was so understanding of the time that they were in and the trail that he was blazing that she hung on to a lot of their things.”
Now, they are available for all to see at a museum bearing his name.