...30, 2014 Jackie Robinson Robinson, Jackie (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) baseball player, civil rights activist was born in Cairo, Georgia the youngest of five children. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson. Mallie Robinson worked several different jobs after her husband Jerry left the family in 1920. At Muir Tech, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level and lettered in four of them: football, basketball, track, and baseball. Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College (PJC), where he continued his athletic career by participating in basketball, football, baseball, and track. After graduating from PJC in spring 1939, Robinson transferred to UCLA, where he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. Robinson was one of four black football players on the UCLA Bruins football team. Robinson was also the 1940 NCAA Track and Field Champion in the long jump. Ironically baseball was Robinson worst sport at UCLA he only hit .098. While at UCLA, he met his future wife, Rachel Isum. Robinson's eligibility ended at the end of 1941, UCLA asked Robinson to stay and even offered financial support to him. He didn’t have much money, but he turned down the offer respectively. An interesting fact is Robinson never graduated from UCLA. Robinson then became an assistant athletic director with the government's National Youth Administration (NYA) in Atascadero, California. Robinson moved to Honolulu...
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...Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson, the best baseball player in the twentieth century, was the first African American to play in the Major League Baseball and opened up the generation for colored people to play baseball. He courageously changed and challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the north and the south. He also gave the African Americans a different focus for life then just stepping back and letting them get walked all over by the words form the whites. Jackie proved a lot from when he made major achievements in high school from a one parent family, to trying out for the Major Leagues. Then put in his will to create a foundation after he was deceased to help out teens that struggled through life like him. Jackie Robinson came from a hardworking single-parent family with the strength to shake the world. He attended John Muir High School and also Pasadena Junior College (Jackie Robinson Foundation). At UCLA, Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track (Official website). After he was turned away for wanting to play major league baseball, he put a lot of thought in to it and decided he needed to do something else first. He volunteered for the Army one year before war was declared and got sent on April 3rd (Mary 33). From 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in World War II, and was discharged from the Army in 1944 (The Biography)....
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...JACKIE ROBINSON Jackie Robinson’s full name is Jack Roosevelt Robinson. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. Jackie Robinson was not a slave but his grandfather was born into slavery. His parents, Mallie and Jerry Robinson lived during the time slavery was ended. Jackie moved to California as a little boy. Jackie Robinson went to Junior College after High School and played football, baseball, track, and basketball. He was the region’s MVP in baseball in 1938. After Junior College Jackie went to UCLA, but left college because of money. In 1942 Jackie joined the army and left the army in 1944. After the army Jackie began playing baseball, and in 1947 became the first African American to play major league baseball, signing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. During Jackie Robinson’s baseball career he was named Rookie of the Year for the National League is 1947 and was chosen to be National League MVP in 1949. Jackie set a league record when he stole home 19 times in his career, and became the highest playing athlete in Dodgers history. Jackie was a talented and successful baseball player in the major leagues and opened the door to other African Americans. In 1955 Jackie helped the Dodgers win the World Series against the New York Yankees. Jackie Robinson retired from baseball in 1957. After Baseball Jackie Robinson served on the bard of the NAACP and was the first African American to be inducted into baseball hall of fame in 1962. The Dodgers retired...
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...Jackie Robinson, Why Him? 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 Rickey’s motivation? While Robinson was the first Negro player to break into the ranks of professional baseball, it can be argued that he was not the first to attempt the undertaking. In actuality, Jackie possibly was not even the first player the Brooklyn Dodgers’ organization considered for the job. The Warner Brothers film, 42, The Jackie Robinson Story (2013), highlights the accomplishments of Jackie and rightfully so, as he was an amazing man. The story actually starts prior to 1947 and ends years later in 1959, three years after his retirement in 1956. Early in his career at Ohio Wesleyan University, where Branch Rickey played and coached baseball, an incident occurred with one of his young black players, Charlie Thomas, which...
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...not only the sports world, but the entire world. Jackie Robinson is considered a hero to me and that is why I chose him. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season by Jonathan Eig tells us all about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. This book was published on April 17, 2007 by Tantor Media. On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson took the field wearing Brooklyn Dodger’s Jersey. He was the first African American to join a MLB team and he did it with pride. Jackie Robinson created so many oppurtunites for so many different people. It took alot of strength and courage to become the first African American athlete to compete in Major League Baseball. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy but he was willing to go through whatever he needed to in order to set a standard for future generations to come. I did learn some different characteristics about Jackie from this book that I never new about before. It tells all about how Jackie Robinson had an anger problem and played baseball very aggressively. He was going to have to change his ways if he wanted to protect his safe in this new league. The current players would not take it very nicely if he continued to play that way. I also learned that he didn’t always have that sweet swing that we know him for today. You would think that his uneasy swing would make things difficult for him, but Jackie showed what he was capable in his first game. Jackie went on to become the MLB Rookie of the Year in 1947...
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...Jackie Robinson’s Life of Courage Kaplan University Webster’s Dictionary defines courage as someone who shows mental or moral strength to venture, preserve, and withstand danger and fear of difficulty (Merriam-Webster, 2011). I define courage as the ability for someone to meet adversity in life and not quit on accomplishing their goals. The person who I feel exemplified my definition of courage was Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson’s story of courage began before becoming the first African-American player to break the color barrier to play on a major league baseball team. Through 1942 and 1944, he served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. At the end of his military career, Robinson was arrested and court-martialed after he refused to seat in the back of a segregated bus during training. His courage against segregation was a precursor to the impact he would have in major league baseball (Jackie, 2011). Jackie Robinson showed that same courage when he began his career in baseball. In 1947, Robinson debuted in his first major league baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Many of his own teammates ignored him and did not want to play with a black man. Some of them threatened to sit out rather than play alongside him. Newspaper writers wrote very racist reports about him during his initial years in baseball (Otake, n.d.). Jackie Robinson throughout his career received hate letters, and some even threatened him personally and his family. Even after being excluded...
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...The first man to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball in the 20th century, Jackie Robinson is one of the most celebrated baseball players in history. Jim, the moral center of Mark Twain’s The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn .Who doesn’t portray a baseball player, yet both Jackie Robinson and Jim both share the same heroic qualities. Both are courageous, noble, and strong-minded. Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919 and grew up in Pasadena, California, where he attended UCLA. While attending there he won letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track. He was regarded as the most all-around athlete in the U.S. at the time. After serving three years in the army, he began playing baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues. After hid successful season in 1946 with the team’s Farmclub he became the first African American major league baseball player since the 19th century. In 1947 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But before Jackie Robinson there was Moses Fleetwood Walker, he was the 1st African American major league baseball player to play baseball in the late 1800’s. On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson became the 1st African American to play major league baseball. He broke the color line, which led to many white teams playing against all black teams or interracial teams: Jackie Robinson caught many Americans attention and his story was widely retold through American culture in many different forms. Such as through...
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...Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. Breaking the color barrier, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play in baseball's major leagues. The youngest of five children, Robinson was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball. He was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938. Jackie continued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he became the university's first student to win varsity letters in four sports. In 1941, despite his athletic success, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just short of graduation due to financial hardship. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears. His season with the Bears was cut short when the United States entered into World War II. He never saw combat, after his discharge he began playing baseball again professionally., Since he was a African American he played in the negro leagues., Jackie played with the '' Kansas city Monarchs" for one season before Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball. He joined the all-white Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946. Robinson later moved to Florida to begin spring training with the Royals, and played his first game in Ebbets...
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...Jackie Robinson A hero is a person who has greatly influenced others by doing extraordinary deeds. These individuals are selfless, brave and influential. An everyday person can be a hero by achieving amazing feats and change the world for the better. Heroes, such as Jackie Robinson, are well respected and admired for their leadership and their courageous actions. When Jackie Robinson was born in 1919, he had no idea what impact he would have on the world. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in 1919 in Georgia and passed away in 1972 in Connecticut at the age of 53. He was raised in poverty by only his mother and was an extraordinary athlete who played football, basketball, track, and baseball. He attended UCLA but had to leave before graduation because of money trouble and moved to Honolulu and played semi-pro football for the Honolulu Bears. When World War Ⅱ started he was a second lieutenant for two years from 1942-1944 and while in Texas was arrested for not getting up and going to the back of the bus in 1944. Jackie was signed by the Dodgers in 1946 and played with their...
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...When he was going to college at UCLA, he didn’t just play baseball he also played football,basketball and track. Jackie Robinson did a lot when it comes to overcoming barriers. He broke one of the biggest barriers in history which was the color barrier in the MLB and that helped bring about the end of segregation when it came to african americans playing sports in the same leagues as white people. This was a big thing considering that back then nobody thought that african americans would ever be treated as equals.I think that Jackie Robinson’s barrier and my barrier are not similar at all. For example, Jackie Robinson’s barrier was physical and mine is emotional. Another thing is that he was being held back by other people, when it comes to me no one holds me back but myself. Also,my barrier can affect and hurt the people around me when his cannot and my barrier can be self-destructive his cannot.These are values that Jackie Robinson used to overcome his barrier were courage, determination, teamwork, persistence,integrity, justice, citizenship and excellence at all...
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...Jackie Robinson played a key role in the integration of the Major League Baseball in 1947. With courage and determination, he was able push through his passions despite the racial barriers. He pushed through them and led the way for others to enter and accomplish what they want in life. Not only was he an important role model, but also an inspirational humanitarian. Many people have to go through many difficulties in life, such racial injustice and discrimination. Personally, for me, obstacles have been in my way at a young age. The deportation of my mother when I was younger forced me to grow up faster than others my age. She was deported when I was in second grade and left my father to take care of my brother and me. Since my dad had to work more, I had to grow faster and help raise my brother. Seeing my father work hard to make sure everyone was alright has forced me to do the same. By shadowing my worries, I was able to protect my brother and make sure everything ran smoothly. I had to be strong at home and at school, no matter what was going on. While my family was going through a...
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...Jackie Robinson is everything a leader should be viewed as. For those of you who do not know of Jackie or his story, it’s quite an amazing one and he displays the utmost highest respect to all of his followers. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to ever play in the Major Leagues of Baseball. He started his rookie season on April 15, 1947, and went on to thrive breaking the strong color barrier that had been around the Major Leagues since 1876. He not only was the first African America to play baseball but he displayed honor and respect to every person on the field and off the field he came in contact with. His career helped drive the civil rights movement that started in the 1950s and 1960s. Jackie had a way of presenting himself to people no matter what color they were. He was known to be an aggressive man yet only when standing up for his civil rights. He always hated injustice things and would do whatever was in his power to seek out solutions to anything he could. I particular event that occurred and that many people honored were when Jackie was in the army. He had the courage to stand up on the bus and tell the sergeant who wanted him to go to the back of the bus ‘No’. This caused an outrage and Jackie went on to be court-martialed for his guts to fight for civil rights. Jackie was a firm believer in facing his problems head on and he was never an ‘avoider’. Upon most of all Jackie’s success in the Major Leagues, it was mainly because he had the courage and...
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...Every year on April 15 every player in the MLB wears jersey number 42. April 15 is Jackie Robinson day. We celebrate this day to remember how he integrated Major League Baseball. Jackie Robinson's childhood was relatively normal for and African American family for many reasons. First, he was the youngest of 5 children. Next, his family was the only African American family in the neighborhood. Last, he was born to a family of sharecroppers. Sharecroppers are farmers who give part of their crops as rent. Jackie Robinson had many motivations to be in the MLB. His older brother Matthew Robinson motivated an athletic career. Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers coach wanted to integrate the MLB so he drafted Jackie. Even before the MLB Jackie wanted...
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...Jackie Robinson Handles Rejection “I’m not concerned with your liking or or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being” ~ Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo CA. He was in the military, then became a professional baseball player. He was an African American boy, who grew up with just his mom and four siblings. His father left soon after he was born. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in major league baseball (MLB). Sadly he died on October 24, 1972 in Stamford, CT. He encountered rejections throughout his life, yet he was able to handle these rejections in a way that eventually led him to being accepted as the first of his race to play in the MLB. Jackie Robinson,...
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...INTRODUCTION In the mid 1940’s Jackie Robinson decided to tryout for MLB. Branch Rickey gave Jackie a chance, and he succeeded . Many people were inspired that black people can be a professional athlete. He struggled with racism throughout his whole career but he overcame it by showing his talents. Jackie Robinson loved all sports. Even though he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, baseball was never his favorite sport. Before he went into MLB he was drafted into the army in 1942. He did not mind being in the army, but he had other places he would rather be. He struggled with racism when he was drafted. While traveling, he performed an action similar to Rosa Parks. All the African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus, away from the...
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