Jackie Robinson Biography

Jackie Robinson and one of his teammates

On January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born. He had 4 brothers and sisters; they were Edgar, Frank, Mack, and Willa Mae. When he was 6 months old his father left the family. In 1920, the Robinson's moved to Pasadena, California (near Las Angeles), where they rented and eventually bought a house at 121 Pepper Street, and even in their new neighborhood blacks were segregated. When Robinson’s older sister, Willa Mae started school, Jackie went with her. He played in the sandbox while his sister watched him from inside her classroom. The schoolchildren soon learned that Jackie was good at sports; they would give him money and food for him to play on their teams at recess. Jackie was better than everyone else at sports. He excelled at every sport such as, marbles, soccer, handball, dodgeball, table tennis, and tennis. His older siblings were also athletes, and in 1936 Jack’s brother Mack, won a silver medal in the Olympic Games. Robinson was in a group of teenagers who called themselves the Pepper Street Gang. They caused trouble but never went any farther than the local police station when they got caught. Robinson played so well at sports opposing coaches told their teams if they could stop Robinson they could win the game. By 1937 when Robinson graduated high school; no scholarships had been offered to Robinson because he was black. In the fall of 1937 Robinson enrolled at Pasadena Junior College. At one of his first football practices some of the white players were unhappy about playing with blacks. Robinson propelled Pasadena's teams to the championships in baseball, football, and basketball. Robinson graduated from Pasadena Junior College in the spring of 1939. Major universities that had ignored him now eagerly courted him. He was leaning toward a scholarship to UCLA when Jack's brother Frank died in a motorcycle accident. On July 6, 1944 Jackie Robinson boarded a military bus near Fort Hood, Texas. The driver of the bus ordered Robinson to "get to the back of the bus where black people belong."  Robinson didn't move when told to because he knew buses on military bases had officially been integregated. Military police escorted him to the guardhouse, Robinson remained defiant, when a white private called him a "nigger". Robinson warned him if he did it again he would "break him in two." Robinson was charged with insubordination, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, conduct unbecoming an officer, insulting a civilian, and refusing to obey the lawful orders of a superior. Most of the charges were dropped, but Robinson was made to stand trial for insubordination. Robinson said after the trial "It was a small victory, for I had learned that I was in two wars, one against the foreign enemy, and the other against prejudice at home." On April 18, 1947 Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers as second baseman. He was the first black man to play for a major league team. he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1956. He died October 24, 1972 at the age of 53 in Stamford, Connecticut.

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The plaque people made in memory of Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson In the Dodgers Club House