Jackie Robinson In The 1950's: Major League Baseball

Jackie was born in Cairo Georgia, 1919, he was the only black family on their block. He went to UCLA for college and played four sports there. In 1945 Jackie played a season of Negro League Baseball. He then got drafted into the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and won Rookie of the Year, he even broke the barriers of colored baseball. He was insulted and was threatened during his baseball career, but also thought he was the most exciting player of them all and African Americans came from all over to watch him. In 1949 he broke emotional and political silence and won the MVP award. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers for 10 years before retiring in 1957. He got married to Rachel Robinson and they had three kids. After baseball he was a spokesman for

He played semi-pro football for a team called the Honolulu Bears in Hawaii. He was only able to play for one season which abruptly ended when World War II started (“Jackie” Biography). Robinson was enlisted into the U.S. military and was assigned to go to Fort Riley, Kansas. He wanted to attend officer training school and was at first denied, but with the help of African American boxing champion Joe Louis, Jackie was able to attend (“Jackie” HistoryNet). Even though Jackie was denied of something he truly deserved, he still managed to fight back and get what he clearly earned.

In 1935, Robinson went to John Muir High School and did tremendously well in the field of sports. At Muir High School, Jackie player shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, guard on the basketball team, quarterback on the football team and won numerous awards in the broad jump. Looking at his excellence in sports, his older brothers Mack and Frank pursued their interests in sports. After Muir Tech, Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College where he continued his athletic career playing in the sports he participated in high school. After graduating from PJC, Robinson transferred to UCLA, where he became the school’s first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track respectively. However, Robinson’s career and contribution was not only made to sports but the military as well.

In the early 20th century, the team, then known as the Robins, won league pennants in 1916 and 1920, losing the World Series both times, first to Boston and then Cleveland. In the 1930s, the team changed its name to the Dodgers, named after the Brooklyn pedestrians who dodged the streetcars in the city.[4] In 1941, the Dodgers captured their third National League pennant, only to lose to the New York Yankees. This marked the onset of the Dodgers–Yankees rivalry, as the Dodgers would face them in their next six World Series appearances. Led by Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era; and three-time National League Most Valuable Player Roy Campanella, also signed out of the Negro Leagues, the Dodgers captured

After moving to Pasadena, Jackie attended all-african american elementary and middle schools along with his siblings and other minor children. After graduating from Washington Junior High School, he enrolled in John Muir High School. Once attending, his brothers Matthew and Frank helped inspire Jackie to pursue his interest and talent in sports. At Muir Tech, Jackie Robinson played as shortstop and catcher on the school’s baseball team as well as placing a spot in the Pomona baseball all-star team, played as the quarterback on the school football team, played as shooting guard on the basketball team, won awards in the broad jump while he was on the track and field squad, as well as lettered in all four of these sports. Also, in 1936,

Branch Rickey accepted the command of sports and assumed that assimilation in baseball might be the primary phase in the direction of combination in the social order(Anastopoulo,2013). It was tremendously challenging to get done, and Robinson experienced incredible anguish and judgment because of his powdered defiance part he played in the change(Anastopoulo,2013).Once Jackie Robinson began playing the game it was a surprise that the fields were crammed. The identical whites who wouldn’t allow a black person to drink from the same water fountain that they drinked were now giving money to see a black man perform on the field and exemplify their team and cheered for him with great joy of the

Since the abolition of slavery in the USA in 1883 and through the first half of the 20th Century, African Americans had been in a constant struggle to try and gain an equal footing in society. Like many aspects of American life, black sportsmen were segregated, and no African American had played professional baseball since 1884. For this reason, the integration of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African American to play Major League baseball in the modern era had a grand impact on the entire country. From the moment that Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey decided that Robinson would break the colour lone, the history of sport and the history of African Americans would not be the same again. The importance of his integration and the effect it had on civil rights can be looked at in many different ways. It had great effect on the African American community, instilling pride and belief once again in the American Dream for many who had once thought it impossible. It also had significant importance for civil rights groups, and brought about a figure who would fight his peoples quest for equal rights until the day he died. It was a significant risk taken by both Rickey and Robinson, professionally and personally. But it was a risk that both in the short term for African American sport, and in the long run for African American civil rights, was ultimately well worth taking.

According to my book Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born and grew in the small town of Stamford, Connecticut. Jackie was one of the five children in his family. Later in life, Jackie attended UCLA; he was great at baseball football and track and field. After college, in 1942 Jackie Robinson entered the army. He was later promoted to lieutenant and later he received an honorable discharge from the army. (www.brittanica.com)

In the biography Jackie Robinson and the American Dilemma by John R. M. Wilson, it tells the story of racial injustice done after world war II and explains how Jackie Robinson was pioneer of better race relations in the United States. The obstacles Jackie Robinson overcame were amazing, he had the responsibility to convert the institutions, customs, and attitudes that had defined race relations in the United States. Seldom has history ever placed so much of a strain on one person. I am addressing the importance of Jackie Robinson’s trials and triumphs to American racial dynamics in the post war period to show how Robinson was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement and brought baseball fans together regardless of race.

With the same idea as Martin Luther King Jr., he worked hard to stay non-violent and to “turn the cheek” to the many threats and racial slurs he received throughout his time in the Major League. He was the target of many cold-hearted fans, and even some of the players on his own team. He was already born a leader, but these things fueled his fire even more. 5 years after he began playing in the MLB, he testified against discrimination before the House of Un-American Activities Committee and called out the Yankees for not yet breaking the color barrier. Along with that, he also served as a leader on the board of the NAACP until 1967.(www.NAACP.org) There, he made speeches that inspired people to get on board and to fight for their rights and for changes. He said, “Certainly if such revolutionary change can be brought about in baseball, it can be brought about in education, in transportation, and in any other area of American life. (Robinson) He believed that change was just around the corner, and all it needed was a little push. Jackie was a firm believer in his ideas and that is why he is such an important figure in our

Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31st 1919. In 1947, at the age of 28, Jackie became the first African American to break the “color line” of Major League Baseball when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. During his tenure with the Dodgers, Jackie was not simply an average player. Among various other accolades, Mr. Robinson was a starter on six World Series teams as well as being named the National League Rookie of The Year in 1947. His advantageous career was then capped in 1962 when he was inducted in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.1 Contrary to popular belief, Jackie's perseverance in implementing racial integration extended beyond his career in Major League Baseball. During the Sixties Jackie Robinson was a

Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby were very determined to stick with the game they loved and to make a change. Thanks to their performance both on and off the ball field, “other owners began to seek talented black players, and by 1952, there were 150 black players in organized baseball” (Branch). Their “actions had repercussions far beyond the sports world” (Jim). The integration of baseball was an enormous smack in the face to all of segregation. Many racial barriers quickly tumbled down with the integration of baseball; restaurants, hotels, and stores removed their “white only” signs bringing blacks and whites together. Robinson and Doby could not have won the battle against segregation on their own, the press helped to make their struggle to be known throughout the country.

The story of Jackie Robinson has become one of America's most iconic and inspiring stories. Since 1947, American history has portrayed Jackie Robinson as a hero, and he has been idolized as a role model to the African American baseball community. It is an unarguable fact that he was the first to tear down the color barriers within professional baseball. The topic of Robinson’s role in integration has long been a point of discussion amongst baseball historians. Researchers have accumulated thousands of accredited documents and interviews with friends and team mates such as short stop, Pee Wee Reese, and team owner, Branch Rickey. However, few journalists have asked why Robinson was selected and what was Branch

The game of baseball has been argued to be the number one game in America and also around the world. Respectively the game is also known as “America’s pastime” had over 14 million people in the U.S. alone watching the World Series in 20151. Due to the growing popularity of baseball throughout the world the players of Major League Baseball (MLB) have become more diverse. Since 1950 when baseball started to grow in popularity the attendance per game has risen over 40%2.

Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College after high school. That is where he continued his athletic career. He played on the football team, baseball team, and he broke school broad-jumping records. Most of Jackie's teammates were white. In 1938,