Jackie Robinson Biography

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Baseball player, civil rights activist. Born Jack Roosevelt Robinson 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.

Robinson's older brother, Matthew Robinson, inspired Jackie to pursue his talent and love for athletics. Matthew won a silver medal in the 200 meters just behind Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. 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. Despite his athletic success, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just shy of graduation due to financial hardship in 1941. He moved to Honolulu, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears. His season with the Bears was cut short with the onset of the United States' entry into World War II.

During World War II, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army from 1942 to 1944. However, he never saw combat due to an altercation during boot camp in Texas. Robinson was arrested and court-martialed after refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus during training. He was later acquitted of the charges and received an honorable discharge. His courage and moral objection to segregation were a precursor to the impact Robinson would have in the major leagues.

After his discharge from the Army in 1944, Robinson played baseball professionally in the Negro Leagues. (At the time, the sport was segregated, and African Americans and whites played in separate leagues.) Robinson, however, was chosen by  Branch Rickey , a vice president with the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball. He joined the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1945. He moved to Florida in 1946 to begin spring training with the Royals with his first game on March 17, 1946.