Jackie Robinson
A multi-sport athlete at UCLA; a long-time activist (see
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson). He was also the first black player in Major League Baseball (1947) since blacks were banned in the 19th Century; he was rookie of the year, and won numerous awards and championships during his career. He retired in 1957, rather than accept a trade from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the crosstown rival Giants; he worked for many years as an exec and a civil rights activist before he died in 1972.
Wed May 30 2001 at 20:57:48
Jackie Robinson was the man who was handpicked by Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers to start the process of integrating the major leagues of baseball. Until (and after) 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of major league baseball, men with non-white skin were forced to play for baseball leagues such as The Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League. Black and Cuban men were not allowed to play on the all-white teams of the so called "major leagues". Branch Rickey wanted a man who would have both the courage and the talent to persevere over what he knew would be considerable resistance to the integration. He was looking for