Robinson, Jackie
Growing
up in a large, single-parent family, Jackie excelled early at all
sports and learned to make his own way in life. At UCLA, Jackie became
the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball,
basketball, football and track. In 1941, he was named to the
All-American football team. Due to financial difficulties, he was forced
to leave college, and eventually decided to enlist in the U.S. Army.
After two years in the army, he had progressed to second lieutenant.
Jackie's army career was cut short when he was court-martialed in
relation to his objections with incidents of racial discrimination. In
the end, Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.
Robinson in his Army uniform, ca. 1943, during a visit to his home in
Pasadena, California, receiving a military salute from his nephew Frank
In 1942, Robinson was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. Having the requisite qualifications, Robinson and several other black soldiers applied for admission to an Officer Candidate School
(OCS) then located at Fort Riley. Although the Army's initial July 1941
guidelines for OCS had been drafted as race-neutral, practically
speaking few black applicants were admitted into OCS until after
subsequent directives by Army leadership.[47] As a result, the applications of Robinson and his colleagues were delayed for several months.[48] After protests by heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis (then stationed at Fort Riley) and the help of Truman Gibson (then an assistant civilian aide to the Secretary of War),[49] the men were accepted into OCS.[43][48][50] This common military experience spawned a personal friendship between Robinson and Louis.[51][52] Upon finishing OCS, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1943.[35] Shortly afterward, Robinson and Isum were formally engaged.[48]
After receiving his commission, Robinson was reassigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he joined the 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion. While at Fort Hood, 2LT Robinson often used his weekend leave to visit the Rev. Karl Downs, President of Sam Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in nearby Austin, Texas; Downs had been Robinson's pastor at Scott United Methodist Church while Robinson attended PJC.[30][53]
An event on July 6, 1944 derailed Robinson's military career.[54] While awaiting results of hospital tests on the ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus with a fellow officer's wife; although the Army had commissioned its own unsegregated bus line, the bus driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus.[55][56][57] Robinson refused. The driver backed down, but after reaching the end of the line, summoned the military police, who took Robinson into custody.[55][58] When Robinson later confronted the investigating duty officer about racist questioning by the officer and his assistant, the officer recommended Robinson be court-martialed.[55][59] After Robinson's commander in the 761st, Paul L. Bates, refused to authorize the legal action, Robinson was summarily transferred to the 758th Battalion—where the commander quickly consented to charge Robinson with multiple offenses, including, among other charges, public drunkenness—even though Robinson did not drink.[55][60]
By the time of the court-martial in August 1944, the charges against Robinson had been reduced to two counts of insubordination during questioning.[55] Robinson was acquitted by an all-white panel of nine officers.[55] The experiences Robinson was subjected to during the court proceedings would be remembered when he later joined the MLB and was subjected to racist attacks.[61] Although his former unit, the 761st Tank Battalion, became the first black tank unit to see combat in World War II, Robinson's court-martial proceedings prohibited him from being deployed overseas, thus he never saw combat action.[62]
After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an honorable discharge in November 1944.[63] While there, Robinson met a former player for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League, who encouraged Robinson to write the Monarchs and ask for a tryout.[64] Robinson took the former player's advice and wrote Monarchs' co-owner Thomas Baird.[65]
In 1945, Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League, traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City Monarchs. But greater challenges and achievements were in store for him. In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey approached Jackie about joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Major Leagues had not had an African-American player since 1889, when baseball became segregated. When Jackie first donned a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, he pioneered the integration of professional athletics in America. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation's preeminent sport, he courageously challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South.
At
the end of Robinson's rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he had
become National League Rookie of the Year with 12 homers, a
league-leading 29 steals, and a .297 average. In 1949, he was selected
as the NL's Most Valuable player of the Year and also won the batting
title with a .342 average that same year. As a result of his great
success, Jackie was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1962.
Jackie married Rachel Isum, a nursing student he met at UCLA, in 1946. As an African-American baseball player, Jackie was on display for the whole country to judge. Rachel and their three children, Jackie Jr., Sharon and David, provided Jackie with the emotional support and sense of purpose essential for bearing the pressure during the early years of baseball.
Jackie
Robinson's life and legacy will be remembered as one of the most
important in American history. In 1997, the world celebrated the 50th
Anniversary of Jackie's breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.
In doing so, we honored the man who stood defiantly against those who
would work against racial equality and acknowledged the profound
influence of one man's life on the American culture. On the date of
Robinson's historic debut, all Major League teams across the nation
celebrated this milestone. Also that year, on United States Post Office
honored Robinson by making him the subject of a commemorative postage
stamp. On Tuesday, April 15 President Bill Clinton paid tribute to
Jackie at Shea Stadium in New York in a special ceremony.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson
Born:
January 31, 1919, Cairo, Georgia
Died:
October 24, 1972, Stamford, Connecticut
Bats:
Right
Throws:
Right
Played For:
Kansas City Monarchs (1945), Brooklyn Dodgers (1947-1956)
Elected to the Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers:
1962
Biography
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond. From this humble beginning would grow the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier that segregated the sport for more than 50 years.Growing
up in a large, single-parent family, Jackie excelled early at all
sports and learned to make his own way in life. At UCLA, Jackie became
the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball,
basketball, football and track. In 1941, he was named to the
All-American football team. Due to financial difficulties, he was forced
to leave college, and eventually decided to enlist in the U.S. Army.
After two years in the army, he had progressed to second lieutenant.
Jackie's army career was cut short when he was court-martialed in
relation to his objections with incidents of racial discrimination. In
the end, Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.Military career
After receiving his commission, Robinson was reassigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he joined the 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion. While at Fort Hood, 2LT Robinson often used his weekend leave to visit the Rev. Karl Downs, President of Sam Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in nearby Austin, Texas; Downs had been Robinson's pastor at Scott United Methodist Church while Robinson attended PJC.[30][53]
An event on July 6, 1944 derailed Robinson's military career.[54] While awaiting results of hospital tests on the ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus with a fellow officer's wife; although the Army had commissioned its own unsegregated bus line, the bus driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus.[55][56][57] Robinson refused. The driver backed down, but after reaching the end of the line, summoned the military police, who took Robinson into custody.[55][58] When Robinson later confronted the investigating duty officer about racist questioning by the officer and his assistant, the officer recommended Robinson be court-martialed.[55][59] After Robinson's commander in the 761st, Paul L. Bates, refused to authorize the legal action, Robinson was summarily transferred to the 758th Battalion—where the commander quickly consented to charge Robinson with multiple offenses, including, among other charges, public drunkenness—even though Robinson did not drink.[55][60]
By the time of the court-martial in August 1944, the charges against Robinson had been reduced to two counts of insubordination during questioning.[55] Robinson was acquitted by an all-white panel of nine officers.[55] The experiences Robinson was subjected to during the court proceedings would be remembered when he later joined the MLB and was subjected to racist attacks.[61] Although his former unit, the 761st Tank Battalion, became the first black tank unit to see combat in World War II, Robinson's court-martial proceedings prohibited him from being deployed overseas, thus he never saw combat action.[62]
After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an honorable discharge in November 1944.[63] While there, Robinson met a former player for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League, who encouraged Robinson to write the Monarchs and ask for a tryout.[64] Robinson took the former player's advice and wrote Monarchs' co-owner Thomas Baird.[65]
In 1945, Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League, traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City Monarchs. But greater challenges and achievements were in store for him. In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey approached Jackie about joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Major Leagues had not had an African-American player since 1889, when baseball became segregated. When Jackie first donned a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, he pioneered the integration of professional athletics in America. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation's preeminent sport, he courageously challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South.
At
the end of Robinson's rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he had
become National League Rookie of the Year with 12 homers, a
league-leading 29 steals, and a .297 average. In 1949, he was selected
as the NL's Most Valuable player of the Year and also won the batting
title with a .342 average that same year. As a result of his great
success, Jackie was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1962. Jackie married Rachel Isum, a nursing student he met at UCLA, in 1946. As an African-American baseball player, Jackie was on display for the whole country to judge. Rachel and their three children, Jackie Jr., Sharon and David, provided Jackie with the emotional support and sense of purpose essential for bearing the pressure during the early years of baseball.
Jackie
Robinson's life and legacy will be remembered as one of the most
important in American history. In 1997, the world celebrated the 50th
Anniversary of Jackie's breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.
In doing so, we honored the man who stood defiantly against those who
would work against racial equality and acknowledged the profound
influence of one man's life on the American culture. On the date of
Robinson's historic debut, all Major League teams across the nation
celebrated this milestone. Also that year, on United States Post Office
honored Robinson by making him the subject of a commemorative postage
stamp. On Tuesday, April 15 President Bill Clinton paid tribute to
Jackie at Shea Stadium in New York in a special ceremony.
He could hit and bunt and steal and run. He had intimidating skills, and he burned with a dark fire.
author Roger Kahn
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