Today in American History: Jackie Robinson Was Born 01/31/1919

Today on 01/31/1919 in American History Jackie Robinson was born.  Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia to a family of sharecroppers.  Everyone knows the great number 42 for being the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.  Robinson made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.  He went on to play ten seasons in the major leagues, augmenting his negro league career.  He retired after the 1956 season with career totals of 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in, 197 stolen bases and a career .311 batting average.  Over those ten years he earned the Rookie of the Year in 1947, six All Star appearances, one batting title, one Most Valuable Player aware and finished in the top ten in MVP voting two more times.  In addition, Robinson's Dodger teams went to the World Series six times and won one World Series ring.

In 1944, Jackie Robinson was attending Sam Huston college when the Kansas City Monarchs, of the Negro Leagues, sent him a written offer to play professional baseball with them for $400 per month ($5000 in 2015 dollars).  Robinson did play the 1945 season with the Monarchs, but pursued Major League Baseball possibilities during this year trying out for the Boston Red Sox on April 16, 1945.  The tryout was organized in order to give the appearance of racial tolerance in Boston, but was never meant to end in the signing of a black ball player.  Not only did Robinson and other players have to endure racial indignities during the try outs, the Boston Red Sox would be the last team in major league baseball to integrate its team in 1958.

Even before Jackie Robinson tried out for the Red Sox, Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers was aware of him.  Rickey and the Dodgers had been scouting the Negro League for talent and identified Jackie as their top candidate after seeing him play and the now famous phone conversation between Rickey and Robinson on August 28, 1945 Rickey decided that Jackie was the player for the Dodgers.  Branch Rickey was vocal about why he chose Robinson to play for the Dodgers.  He said that not only did Robinson have all the physical tools to play at the major league level, but that he possessed the character and restraint that would be necessary to withstand the pressures and insults that would come with the experience.  And after a single season filled with racial slurs and blockades playing for the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers AAA minor league baseball club, Jackie Robinson was ready for prime time.

In the years since Robinson's retirement, many people have recognized what Robinson playing Major League baseball meant to not only the sport, but the country.  Martin Luther King said that Robinson was a "legend and a symbol in his own time."   He has also been credited for making the desegregation of the United States military happen in 1948.  There have been six feature films made based on his life, including the acclaimed 2011 film "42" plus a Broadway play "The First" in 1981 and the 1950 film "The Jackie Robinson Story" in which Robinson appeared playing himself.  He was also posthumously named the Major League Baseball's All Century team in 1999.


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Bruce has worked in educational technology for over 18 years and has implemented several 1:1/BYOD programs.  He also has served as a classroom teacher in Computer Science, History and English classes.  Bruce is the author of five books: Sands of Time, Towering Pines Volume One:Room 509, The Star of Christmas, Philadelphia Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel and The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel.  Follow Bruce's Novel releases by subscribing to his FREE newsletter!

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