Jackie Robinson

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Born in Cairo, Georgia, Robinson was raised in Pasadena, California. A four-sport student athlete at Pasadena Junior College and the University of California, Los Angeles, he was better known for football than he was for baseball, becoming a star with the UCLA Bruins football team. Following his college career, Robinson was drafted for service during World War II, but was court-martialed for refusing to sit at the back of a segregated Army bus, eventually being honorably discharged. Afterwards, he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues, where he caught the eye of Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who thought he would be the perfect candidate for breaking the MLB color line.

In Their Own Story

April 15 was Opening Day in 1947, marking Robinson's first season in the major leagues. His debut ended approximately 80 years of baseball segregation. In March 2004, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced that Major League Baseball would honor Robinson on April 15 as "Jackie Robinson Day," making the announcement with Sharon Robinson, his daughter. The first Jackie Robinson Day was held on April 15, 2004. That day began with Sharon Robinson ringing the ceremonial Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Festivities took place in the 13 ballparks that had scheduled games, including Shea Stadium where the number 42 jersey retirement occurred in 1997.

Reader's Guide

During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first Black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 in his first year of eligibility. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement. Robinson also was the first Black television analyst in MLB and the first Black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, a Black American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off the field. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number, 42, across all Major League teams; he was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, 'Jackie Robinson Day', for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears the number 42.

Did You Know?

• Robinson was the first Black television analyst in MLB.
• He was the first Black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts.
• MLB retired his uniform number, 42, across all Major League teams in 1997—the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored.
• Robinson won the NCAA championship in the long jump in 1940 while at UCLA.