Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Introduction The Ebbets Field stands were full on April 15, 1947. Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson picked up his baseball bat. The crowd watched as the only African American in Major League Baseball (MLB) walked to the plate. Insults rang out from the other team's dugout. The Dodgers' general manager, Branch Rickey, had warned him this would happen. The words hurt, but Robinson had promised not to respond. He would play ball and let his bat do the talking. Many people took note of the great courage Jackie Robinson showed that day. His courage would make him a baseball legend and a champion for equal rights.

The Early Years Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, the youngest of five children in a poor Georgia family. The Robinson family moved to California when Jackie was a boy. There, he became known as a talented athlete in not one but several sports.

Jackie Robinson attended the University of California at Los Angeles(UCLA). He was a star on the school's football, track, basketball, and baseball teams. Robinson was the first student in the school's history to win special awards in four sports in a single year. In spite of this success, Robinson did not graduate from UCLA. The Robinsons had little money. He left school in 1941 to help support his family.

Taking a Stand Robinson played semiprofessional football after college. Then, in December 1941, the United States entered World War II. Like many young men at the time, Robinson was called up to serve in the U. S. Army. Robinson served at Fort Hood, Texas. One day in 1944, he and a group of soldiers got on an army bus. The bus was segregated-white soldiers sat in the front and black soldiers in the back. Yet Robinson knew he was no less a soldier than the white men. He refused an order to move to the back of the bus. For this, he was arrested. The army wanted to punish Robinson, but many people defended him. He was a good soldier who had only stood up for what was right. In the end, he was found not guilty.

You're Hired! After his time in the army, Robinson worked at a Texas college coaching basketball. In 1945, he received a letter from the Kansas City Monarchs, a professional baseball team. They offered Robinson a contract to play with them for four hundred dollars a month. The Monarchs were part of the Negro Leagues. At that time, baseball was segregated. White and black athletes played in separate leagues. Robinson signed on to play for the Monarchs, thinking it might be a way to someday get into the all-white major leagues.