On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional sports in America and became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball by signing with the then Brooklyn Dodgers. Almost 75 years later, his impact is still felt in American society because of the major sacrifices he made decades ago.
Although Robinson is a major historical figure, there are still many interesting facts about him that you possibly did not know, here are some of them.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson, was Jackie’s full name and the inspiration was from the 26th President of the Unites States’ last name, according to “Jackie Robinson: A Biography.”
Jackie was the baby of the family and was born after his four siblings Edgar, Frank, Matthew and Willa Mae.
Robinson also played tennis growing up and was really good at it winning the junior boys singles championship in the Pacific Negro Tennis Tournament.
Jackie was not the only special athlete in his family, his brother, Mack, a silver medal in the 200 meters behind Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Jackie Robinson was drafted into the army in 1942 and was assigned to a segregated Army Cavalry uni in Fort Riley, Kansas, according to American Heritage.
Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was stationed at Fort Riley with Robinson and the two became friends, according to History.com.
In an incident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, Robinson was arrested by military police and prohibited from being deployed overseas for the war and as a result, never saw combat. But, he was eventually acquitted and assigned to a camp in Kentucky where he worked as an athletics coach until he was discharged, according to PBS THIRTEEN.
Before making it in the majors, Robinson played minor league baseball for the Montreal Royals in 1946 until he was called up to the major leagues in 1947
Robinson was the first African-American player in the entire Major League and the National League. Larry Doby was the second African-American to play in the Major Leagues and the first to play in the American league for the then Cleveland Indians. They had a close friendship with each other as they both broke the color barrier in the same year.
Robinson was called to testify before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He was subpoenaed because he made comments about Paul Robeson, a prominent African-American actor at the time. He feared that not testifying would hurt his baseball career.
In the biopic about his life, The Jackie Robinson Story, Robinson played himself and Academy Award-nominated actress Ruby Dee played his wife, Rachel Isum Robinson.
Robinson was not only the first African-American to play in the world series, but he played in six of them! He only won one in 1955 against the New York Yankees.
In 1956 at the age of 37, Robinson retired from major league baseball and took a position with Chock Full O’ Nuts, a coffee company.
He served as the vice president of personnel for Chock Full O’ Nuts from 1957 to 1964 and became the first African-American vice president of a major American corporation.
Originally a political independent, but when the Vietnam War came around Robinson had very conservative views on the war and supported Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential election against John F. Kennedy. He later changed his chance on Republicans because they did not support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and then became a Democrat, according to the Library of Congress.
In 1962 Robinson received baseball’s highest honor and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility, becoming the first African American to be inducted into the Cooperstown-based hall of fame and museum.
Robinson co-founded Freedom National Bank in 1964 in Harlem, New York with Dunbar McLaurin, a businessman. Robinson was the bank’s first chairman on the board.
Robinson also broke the color barrier in other professions and became the first African American MLB TV analyst when he broadcasted for ABC’s Major League Baseball Game of the Week telecasts in 1965
On June 4, 1972, nearly 25 years after he debuted with the Dodgers, the team retired Robinson’s number, 42, according to Dodger Blue.
Jackie’s widow, Rachel, founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a non-profit that offers college scholarships and career mentorship to students of color. The organization also honors and preserves the legacy of Jackie Robinson as a player, person and activist.
The house where Jackie and his wife lived in Brooklyn while he played for the Dodgers was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, according to African American Heritage Sites.
American astronomer Schelte John “Bobby” Bus discovered an asteroid and decided to name it after his favorite baseball player, Jackie Robinson. Bus named the asteroid, “4319 Jackierobinson.”
President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Jackie Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984. It is the highest award given to a civilian for their contributions to world peace and other significant public or private endeavors.
In 2005, nearly 20 years after he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President George W. Bush posthumously awarded Jackie Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal. The award is the highest honor the legislative branch can bestow on a civilian and must be co-sponsored by two-thirds of members in the House and the Senate, according to Congress.gov.
Nobody in the MLB will ever wear the number 42 ever again in honor of Jackie Robinson. In 1997, his number was retired throughout the entire league, the first and only time a jersey had been retired across an entire sports league.
