Page 44 - 2020 Robie Digital Flipbook (2)_Neat

ABOUT JACKIE ROBINSON

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia and grew up in Pasadena, California. He
graduated from Pasadena Community College and went on to attend the University of California, Los Angeles

(UCLA), where he excelled in football, basketball, track and field, and baseball and remains to this day the only
student to earn varsity letters in four sports in one year. Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States

Army and, after his honorable discharge in 1944, played baseball in the Negro Leagues. Having caught the attention
of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he joined the franchise’s farm team in 1946, debuting with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947

as the first black player to compete in the Major Leagues. Robinson overcame unimaginable bigotry and during his
ten-year career in professional baseball, was named Rookie of the Year (1947), Most Valuable Player (1949) and won

a World Series title (1955). His .311 batting average, 197 stolen bases and six All-Star game appearances ensured his
enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. The father of three continued to push for equality through his

involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, a leadership position within the NAACP, as an executive for Chock Full
O’ Nuts, and through his help in establishing the Freedom National Bank of Harlem. Following a decade-long battle

with diabetes, Jackie Robinson died on October 24, 1972 at the age of 53.

To learn more about Jackie Robinson’s life and legacy please visit:
www.jackierobinsonmuseum.org/about