Question. How many black people were living in stanford, connecticut in 1963. It was north stanford, so thats where it had more land. So it was our family. In 63 there may have been more, two or three in that section of town, but pretty much segregated ourselves in stanford, connecticut. What do you remember about that segregation. About being one of the few africanamericans. I remember in elementary school, children asking me if i bathed and you know, and me feeling very insecure, very shy, not didnt speak at all. I wouldnt ask questions, i wouldnt wear my glasses because i didnt want to be different in any other way and i didnt understand that that was part of my experience there, being the only black child in the fifth grade. So, until fifth grade i was the only black child in the school. Why did mom and dad want you to have that, want you to live there . I dont think they wanted us to have that level of isolation nor lack of, you know, overly they werent sitting us out there as an experiment. It was really that my father was still plague for the brooklyn dodgers. Wanted to live on land and have privacy, thought it would be better for the family, and stanford was 45 minutes from new york city. So he could get in for games and practice easily, and so thats really set us up there. And we they actually ran into housing discrimination when they were looking for land and a house. So, it was actually with the help of andrea simon from Simon Schuster family, because she lived in a community during the summertime, that we were able to even find this particular piece of property. Were you aware that you were Jackie Robinsons daughter . I was. We had a trophy room in our house. Our friends were very enamoured of all the trophies and plaques and whenever we went in public there was a different experience. We were a public family and we could go up on weekends and walk into the dining room and everyone would turn and look. And so, we were very much aware that we were had a public side, but the privacy at homes so it balanced it out. From your book, child of the dream, you write, this is something somebody told you maybe your older brother. Not easy being a robinson, it comes with such High Expectations and not enough praise. What does that mean . Well, it wasnt even so much from our family, it comes from everyone else. So, people, for example, my brother who was a played Little League baseball and babe ruth baseball, was compared to my father. You cant do is as well as jackie. Youre constantly told youre not doing it as well. Thats jackies experience and sort of set him up for a number of failures, in school and in life because he was compared all of the time. For us, you know, we didnt know how to measure success. You know, we had this super dad and really, a super mom as well, and so, we werent sure how you measure success, my dad told us its not about trophies and awards, its about how you live your life. And kind of how you change our peoples lives, but we werent there yet so we werent kind of achieving at that level yet. Who is Rachel Robinson . She is my extraordinary mother now 97 and i will see her on sunday. She is, you know, she was my dads partner, they had a wonderful marriage, and he died relatively early in his life and in her life as well and she moved right in from the career so she could take over something that he had begun in housing and that gave her a new career model and she founded the Jackie Robinson foundation. So shes had both a number of successful careers as a nurse as an educator, and then in housing and then with the Jackie Robinson foundation. Sharon robinson, 1963 was kind of a benchmark year in this country. Yes. And also for your family. What were activities that happened . The most important they think was birmingham, alabama, thats where dr. King had centralized his activity, birmingham was considered the most segregated city in america at that point and dr. King had a Birmingham Campaign and during that year, the beginning of that year, just after i turned 13, we had this governor, George Wallace announced segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. And for me, it set a tone of i thought he just declared war, you know, we were talking about war anyway and i was like, well, is this another form of war . But it also stepped the country up to understand what we were what our battle was. And that was sort of like a battle cry for us. And dr. King had organized in birmingham, alabama after coming out of georgia. And they were marching and you could sort of learn from albany, georgia, what theyre marching for and what their expectations were. They had been organizing with adults, but by april they werent able to mobilize enough adults any longer and turned to children. For me the whole inspiration of this book was the childrens march because as a child, watching it on television every night, you know, and having my dad go down to birmingham, it became i wanted to march with the children, i wanted to join the movement in a more substantial way, and not just be sort of isolated in stanford, connecticut. So my dad found a way to bring us into the Civil Rights Movement that him and floyd patterson. Back then, it was the boxer that would travel with my dad. It wasnt the baseball players. They needed people to bring this ability to the movement and floyd was one of the great guys that went down. And that picture there is at the motel where dr. King was staying. Up there by my finger . Right. And my dad and patterson went down the next day to bring money for the children who had been jailed during the marches and they just went to the site and they also stayed at that motel. So where it had been bombed. Where it had just been bombed. Martin luther king is trend of the friend of the family . Yes, friend of the family. As a family we started doing jazz concerts and our first jazz concert was also to raise money in june. At the house . At the house, at our house, yes and my brothers and i sold hot dogs and sodas and we turned in 1,000 our first jazz concert and then we had a second one after the after the march on washington and we had gone to the march in washington as a family, and that was our first time as a family actually participating in the Larger Movement. And it was just an amazing experience because this is what we were asking for. We used to ask dad, can we go with you to birmingham . And he said, no, ill figure this out. And he figured it out by bringing us with him to the march in washington. And then just after the march on washington, we had our second jazz concert and dr. King actually came to our house and it was amazing. We are talking with Sharon Robinson, the author of this book child of the dream, a memoir of 1963 talking about the Civil Rights Movement, her childhood during that time and of course, she is the daughter of Jackie Robinson. 7488 748 7488200. 8201 for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zone. And Sharon Robinson, the daughter of until the end. Do you get tired of hearing that . No, i dont get tired of it. You know, i as long as its, you know, in a business world. I do get tired of it where i live because i want to come home and just be sharon and i dont want to be the daughter of, i just want to be me, and i feel like thats where i should have privacy. So im working on my community to let them know, okay, now we know this, lets go on and realize, im a neighbor. [laughter] do you work with major League Baseball today . I still do, yes. We do we do an Incredible Program for 24 years which started in 1997 called breaking barriers in sports and life. It essentially helps kids understand that barriers are a part of life,give them my dads story and give them values that i social with his success on and off the field. They eventually tell their story in a National Essay con tense of a barrier theyve had to overcome and how that process, including which values they use. I go out and select national winners, we get between 11,000 to 15,000 essays each year from kids all over the united states. I go out and visit with the winners in their classrooms, bring them to local Major Minor League parks if we can and then the grand Prize Winners are honored at allstar game or the world series. Its been an Incredible Program and ive been working with kids on the importance of finding their voice and i tell them to me, voice is confidence. And by telling, writing it down and showing what theyve overcome, helping to build confidence and helping to build inner strength and thats what ive thats, my work has been incredible. Ive met some amazing children and you know, we stay in touch. And its 56 years ago, i believe, if ive got that right. Just about right now. Since the march on washington happened. Yes. Two miles from where were sitting. Yes. What do you remember about those august, 1963 days . Well, i remember that it was hot, and very, very crowded and people came from all over. There were buses all over the city. I remember us going as a family because, again, this is our first time going on a march and we had only seen the marches in birmingham on television. So, you know, we didnt quite know what to expect. And i remember we were separated from my dad at one point and in that process, i got overheated and dehydrated and fainted. So i remember being carted off to the medical tent. And they, you know, got us coming back together. And then we went and met up with my dad and we were able to hear dr. King speak. So, it was, you know, an experience that i wanted to be part of the Larger Movement and so this is my First Experience of really participating as a being an activist on that level. I started being an activist on a lower level in terms of, you know, my School Papers and just, you know, activating and advocating for myself and school. But now i felt the energy and the excitement of being in this mass, mass of people that were all striving for equality and justice. What do you think of the movies that have been made of your dad and your family . Loved 42, after it, i felt they understood determination versus i felt the original Jackie Robinson story, which was made in 1950. On my dad plays himself in that movie. Black and white, of course. And even as a child, and i was a child when this was made and watching it in day camp, i didnt recognize my dad because of the way he was directed. So it was, you know, you can direct somebody to sort of people came away, well, he had the personality that he could handle that adversity as opposed to someone so determined in terms of the Larger Mission and is pushing forward and sort of holding back some Natural Instincts for some of the reactions. So, i loved 42 because chad was such a strong actor and he understood Jackie Robinson and showed him as a powerful, strong man who was on a mission. Sharon robinson is our guest. The first call for her comes from laura in ellicott city, maryland. Hi, laura. Hi. Thank you so much. Im thrilled to be able to talk to you. Here is my question, youre talking about the 63 march. I was 16 in 1959 and went on the youth march for integrated schools then and im dying to know if you remember anything about that because your dad was there and so was i. And ive been trying to find out more information about it. I was going to get in touch with your mom, but now i have you, so do you remember anything . Well, i remember that my dad did a youth march in 1959, but i also would like to hear your memory. So you can reach me through the Jackie Robinson foundation, were based in new york city and please call and leave a message if youre trying to reach me and ill well talk. Sharon from dublin, ohio, go ahead. Hi, i was just wondering. Hi. Did it take to you write your book and where do you live now . Oh, thank you, sharon. You know, as an author you very much, you know, write books in your head for a long time before you actually start writing them down so i wanted to write a book around the childrens march and started doing research for several years before i actually started writing this book. It was scholastic, my editor is scholastic and a publicist who convinced me to tell the story within a memoir format. So the actual writing process id say i did about two years of research, about a year and a half to write and be edited, and then, you know, so it ends up being a to the end, but its a number of years to think about the childrens march and how it effected me in 1963. So i actually live in delray beach, florida and you know, float back and forth between del ray and new york city. My mom lives in new york and connecticut so i am with her every month. Im a writer who works best with structure, a desk, a laptop, walls plastered with timelines and story art. Quiet, perched in her bed on my desk. And shes right now at the motel, hotel. She travels with me still. Shes a dog . Shes a dog. Shes a five pound yorkie. [laughter] and you edit. You like to edit on the beach . Well, i like noise. So actually i go to a diner and this particular restaurant is right across the street from the beach and they allow me to sit there for hours and i theres a table i like where i can see the water and sit at the upper level and look up and see the water and do my editing. I like voices around me when i edit. I dont know why that is. Next call to Sharon Robinson. Larry macon, georgia. Hawai hi, larry. Hi, larry. Hi there. Macon is my home and as you probably know, they filmed 42 here. Yes. And i enjoyed watching them film and it was just a wonderful experience because i have been down to Luther Williams ballpark so many times and lived tloo all the integration and so many good ball players that had been at that stadium so many times and just had some wonderful experiences there and i enjoyed seeing the filming and not only the ballpark, but in the downtown area, also. And i guess Jackie Robinson has always been one of my heroes, so, i just want to say thank you for that good movie and everything and i know it was you said, i think, previously that troises very accurate. Yes, it was. And i thought it was, too, yeah, so, but i really enjoyed watching them and everything. And i remember the integration of the stadium. At one time. Johnnie pitched here and there were so many africanamericans that came to watch him pitch they really didnt have any choice, but to integrate the stadium because theyd previously been made to sit on the third base side a small section. Larry. Yes. Larry, do you remember hearing from people who were opposed to the integration of baseball and the integration of the stadium, et cetera, et cetera . Oh, yes, yes, yes. Very much so, yeah. What were some of the comments . Well, you know, as they went through, you know, they got the now, theyve started with the schools and they protested that and then they would make comments like, you know, you know, they cant be happy, you know . Now they want to integrate our baseball park. Now they want to integrate them through the army and all of this stuff like that, you know, it was really sad. But i like to say were over that now, but we did go through that period of time here in macon. It wasnt a good time, but it was, you know, a dark part of macons history and the whole nation. American history. And two final questions, what kind of work do you do and how old are you . Im 72 and im a librarian, or a retired librarian. Oh. Thank you, sir, i appreciate your time. Sharon robinson had a little chat with larry. I heard that times have changed and have been that he experienced that change and that there was you know, didnt say that white people didnt want to sit next to black people in a stadium and you know, unfortunately, you know, we are experiencing similar attitudes today. I mean, one of the things my dad told me is that in the 60s, in the Civil Rights Movement, we were fighting to change laws. He said, but you, you know, you cant legislate hate, you know . Hate will be around and it will be a constant struggle and we certainly are seeing that today, that the country is very divided. So i dont think that he was he wanted to say that schools are resegregated and in manile places in america, and you know, its there are lessons we can learn from 1963 or the Civil Rights Movement from the mid 60s when we passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, but were still living in a very divided world. Now, Sharon Robinson, you talked about the private family and the Robinson Family had a very public face. Yes. Did your parents have to walk that line quite a bit, knowing in a sense that they were cultural icons, at least that your father was a cultural icon and yet, they had personal feelings as well . You know, i wouldnt say that they stayed online, you know . My dad wrote columns, he wrote letters, he never stopped advocating for equality and justice. He did his even when he did it around politics and he was always a voice out there. So, once he retired from major League Baseball, he worked as a activism was in his blood and the movement was heating up and he jumped right in there and found every way he could to continue to use his voice. What about his endorsement of Richard Nixon in 1960 . Well, it was a mistake. [laughter] and i told him i was 10 years old and i it was my first discussion with him about politics. My fifth grade teacher asked us to go home and find out who our father was voting for. And i knew who my father was voting for. I didnt have enough selfconfidence to say it doesnt matter who my father is voting for, i would vote for kennedy. I went home and had that discussi