Jackie Robinson

Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player and Social Reformer. He was a famed baseball player and civil rights advocate who was the first African-American to play in modern Major League Baseball (MLB) when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in April 1947. Jackie Robinson (born Jack Roosevelt Robinson) was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1919. His single mother, Mallie, later moved the family to Pasadena, California, where he was raised. As a student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Robinson earned letters in four sports (baseball, basketball, football, and track) - an unprecedented achievement. After serving in the United States Army during World War II (WWII), he returned to civilian life to teach physical education at a college in Austin, Texas. What followed marked the first steps of Robinson's path into history. In 1945, he played in the Negro American League for the Kansas City Monarchs. On October 23, 1945, Robinson and pitcher John Wright, also black, were signed by Branch Rickey , President of the Brooklyn Dodgers club to play on a Dodger farm team, the Montreal Royals of the International League. Robinson led that league in batting average in 1946 and was brought up to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He played all ten seasons of his Major League career with the Dodgers. He started as a first baseman, gained his greatest fame playing second base, but in his final season with the Dodgers, played third base. In 1947, Robinson was an immediate success, leading the National League in stolen bases, and was chosen Rookie of the Year. In 1949, he won the batting championship with a .342 average and was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP). His career average was .311. In 1956, Robinson received the Spingarn Medal, awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for outstanding achievement by an African American. After retiring from baseball shortly after the 1956 World Series, Robinson engaged in business and as a spokesman for civil rights. Robinson became the first African-American inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He later published his autobiography, I Never Had It Made (1972). Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 24, 1972, at the age of 53. In 1997, twenty-five years after his death, Major League Baseball (MLB) retired his Number 42 in tribute to a great man who was willing to suffer insult and injury for the sake of his people and his country. That same year, Brooklyn's Interboro Parkway was renamed "The Jackie Robinson Parkway" in honor of the man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier. The parkway bisects Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Robinson is interred.