Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia and raised in Pasadena, California. A remarkable multi-sport athlete at UCLA, he became the first student to letter in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track.
In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey recruited Robinson to break Major League Baseball's color line. Robinson endured death threats, racial slurs from fans and opposing players, and teammates who refused to take the field with him. Through it all, he played with extraordinary grace and ferocity.
In his rookie year, he won Rookie of the Year. In 1949, he won the MVP award. His courage opened the door for every Black athlete who followed. Number 42 was retired across all of Major League Baseball in 1997 — the only number so honored in the sport.
"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."— Jackie Robinson
Key Milestones
A Life in Firsts
In Their Words
Notable Quotes
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.
Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.
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