Robinson, Jackie (1919-1972), was the first African American to play in white-controlled major league baseball in the modern era. The modern era of major league baseball dates from 1900. Robinson joined the Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers in 1947 and played 10 years with them.
Robinson played first base during his first season with the Dodgers. But he spent the most successful years of his career playing second base. He also played third base and the outfield. Robinson was an outstanding hitter and finished with a .313 lifetime batting average. He was also an excellent base stealer. In 1947, he was named Rookie of the Year. In 1949, he won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award. That year, he also won the league’s batting championship with a .342 average.
Early life.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on Jan. 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. When Robinson was an infant, his mother moved her family to California. Robinson starred in baseball, basketball, football, and track in high school and at Pasadena Junior College. He transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1939. There, he excelled in the same four sports. In 1941, Robinson dropped out of UCLA to help support his mother by working at a youth camp. He also played minor league football and semiprofessional football.
From 1942 to 1944, during World War II, Robinson served in the United States Army. In 1944, he was court-martialed for refusing a white driver’s demands to go to the back of a bus because he was Black. An all-white military jury found Robinson not guilty of insubordination (disobedience). He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1944 as a second lieutenant.
Breaking the racial barrier.
Robinson coached basketball at Sam Houston State College during the 1944-1945 season. He started his professional baseball career in 1945 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. The league was made up entirely of Black baseball players. At the time, baseball was racially segregated—that is, Black players were not allowed to play in the white-controlled major or minor leagues. In 1946, Robinson broke through baseball’s racial segregation barrier by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league team in Montreal.
In 1947, Robinson became the first African American to play in the white-controlled major leagues since the 1880’s. Robinson’s impact on segregation in sports went far beyond the Dodgers. After baseball desegregated, other professional sports quickly followed, and a number of previously segregated hotels and restaurants began to admit Black people.
Later achievements.
In December 1956, the Dodgers traded Robinson to the New York Giants, but he retired to go into business. He began working for Chock full o’Nuts, a chain of coffee shops, and became the first Black vice president of a major American corporation. Robinson helped establish, and served as chairman of, Freedom National Bank. This bank was owned and operated by African Americans in New York City.
In 1956, Robinson received the Spingarn Medal. The medal is an award given annually to an outstanding African American. Robinson was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He died on Oct. 24, 1972.
In 1984, Robinson was posthumously (after his death) awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. In 2005, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by the U.S. Congress.
In 1997, major league baseball permanently retired Robinson’s uniform number, 42. This action ensured that his number would never be assigned to another major league player. The Jackie Robinson Museum, a museum honoring Robinson’s legacy, opened in New York City in 2022.
