Born: July 31, 1919, Cairo, GA

Education: Pasadena, California Junior College, 1938–40, UCLA, 1940–41

Died: October 24, 1972, Stamford, CT

Private Robinson resisted army segregation and was denied promotion, but boxer Joe Louis intervened successfully on his behalf.

Promoted and honorably discharged, Jackie played second base for the Negro Leagues’ Kansas City Monarchs. Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey soon began recruiting him and he signed in 1947, breaching “approximately eighty years of baseball segregation.” He became a black hero and a few other Negro Leagues stars joined him in the majors.

Jackie was a leader. He endured racist treatment with dignity and fought by letting “his bat and glove do the talking.” Thus he won the Rookie of the Year Award (1947) and many firsts, such as the first black player to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award (1949), in the Baseball Hall of Fame (1962), and on a commemorative US postal stamp (1982).

Retiring from the game in 1957, Jackie emerged as a strong advocate of civil rights and equal opportunity. He advocated broader and more expeditious desegregation of baseball. As blacks were excluded from coaching and managerial positions, he would not attend games or play on “old timers” days. But he did the opening pitch for the 1972 World Series and twenty-fifth anniversary of Major League integration. He died nine days later.