FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER

JACKIE ROBINSON BORN IN GEORGIA

Cairo, Georgia (JFK+50) One hundred years ago, January 31, 1919, future major league baseball star Jackie Roosevelt Robinson* was born here in Cairo**.  Jackie's middle name was chosen in honor of Theodore Roosevelt who passed away less than a month before his birth.

Jackie attended Pasadena Jr. College and transferred to UCLA where he became the first athlete at the school to letter in four sports: basketball, baseball, football and track.

Jackie Robinson's major league baseball career (1947-1956) included a .311 batting average, 1518 hits, 137 HRs, 734 RBIs and 197 stolen bases.  He was Rookie of the Year 1947 and six times an All-Star.  Robinson was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1962.  His jersey #42 was retired by every MLB team.

In 1963, a telegram was sent to President John F. Kennedy by Jackie Robinson urging him to protect civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.***  Mr. Robinson wrote...

"It might seem fantastic to imagine that even in the state of Mississippi anyone would seek to do injury to a non-violent leader like Martin Luther King (but) should harm come to Dr. King...the restraint of many people...might burst its bonds and bring about a brutal bloody holocaust the like of which this country has not seen.  I...implore you...to utilize every federal facility to protect a man sorely needed for this era."

*Jackie Roosevelt Robinson (1919-1972), the 1st African-American to play in MLBB.  JRR served in  WWII & played baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues before being chosen by Branch Rickey to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

**Cairo, Georgia is located in Grady County North of the Florida state line. The city was founded in 1835.  It was named after the city in Egypt.

***Dr. King was scheduled to attend the funeral of civil rights activist Medgar Evers who had been killed in Jackson, Mississippi 3 days earlier.

SOURCE

"Jackie Robinson to JFK in 1963 telegram: Rev King needs more protection in Miss," by Victoria Taylor, New York Daily News, September 4, 2013, www.nydailynews.com

       

Jackie Robinson

Brooklyn Dodgers

Look Magazine (1984)

Library of Congress Image

JACKIE ROBINSON

JACKIE ROBINSON BREAKS MLB COLOR BARRIER

Brooklyn, New York (JFK+50) 67 years ago today, April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson took the diamond at Ebbets Field and became the first African-American to play major league baseball.

Robinson, the first athlete to letter in four varsity sports at UCLA, was recruited by Brooklyn Dodger general manager Branch Rickey.

Jackie Robinson won the National League Rookie of the Year and in 1949 won MVP as the league's batting champion.  

Jackie, who wore the legendary number 42, led the Dodgers to six National League pennants and one World Series. 

 In 1962, he became the first African-American player to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

FIDEL CASTRO VISITED NEW YORK CITY 55 YEARS AGO TODAY

New York City (JFK+50) On April 15, 1959,  55 years ago today, four months after his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista, Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro arrived here in New York City, the invited guest of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Before departing for Cuba, Castro met with Vice-President Nixon who commented later that the Cuban premier was...

 "either incredibly naive about communism or under communist discipline..."

      Castro and Vice-President Nixon

JACKIE ROBINSON ASKS JFK TO PROTECT MLK

September 4, 2013

NY DAILY NEWS REPORTS JACKIE ROBINSON MESSAGED JFK ON MLK'S SECURITY IN MISS

New York City (JFK+50) In an article in today's New York Daily News, Victoria Taylor reports on a 1963 telegram sent to President John F. Kennedy by baseball legend Jackie Robinson* urging him to "utilize every federal facility" to protect civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

       First Page of Jackie Robinson's
      Telegram to President Kennedy
                     June 15, 1963
             JFK Library Image

In the telegram, sent at 7:25 a.m. on June 15, 1963 and sent to the White House from Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson wrote...

"It might seem fantastic to imagine that even in the state of Mississippi anyone would seek to do injury to a non-violent leader like Martin Luther King (but) should harm come to Dr. King...the restraint of many people...might burst its bonds and bring about a brutal bloody holocaust the like of which this country has not seen."

Dr. King was going to the funeral of civil rights activist Medgar Evers who had been shot and killed in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi 3 days earlier.

The telegram continues...

"I...implore you...to utilize every federal facility to protect a man sorely needed for this era."

There is no information in the article about a reply to the telegram or action taken, if any, on Mr. Robinson's request.

While no violence took place against Dr. King in Jackson, he was shot and killed less than 5 years later in Memphis, Tennessee.

                        Jackie Robinson
                      Brooklyn Dodgers
                 Look Magazine (1984)
           Library of Congress Image

*Jackie Roosevelt Robinson (1919-1972), the 1st African-American to play in Major League Baseball, was born in Cairo, Georgia.  His middle name was in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt who died less than a month before Jackie was born.

Jackie attended Pasadena Jr. College and transferred to UCLA where he became the 1st athlete at the school to letter in 4 sports: basketball, baseball, football and track.

He served in the US Army in WWII and played baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues before being chosen by Branch Rickey to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Jackie Robinson's career (1947-1956) included a .311 batting average, 1518 hits, 137 HRs, 734 RBIs and 197 stolen bases.

He was Rookie of the Year 1947 and 6 times an All-Star.

Robinson was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1962.  His jersey #42 was retired by every MLB team.

JRR passed away at the age of 53 in Stamford, Connecticut.


SOURCE

"Jackie Robinson to JFK in 1963 telegram: Rev King needs more protection in Miss," by Victoria Taylor, New York Daily News, September 4, 2013, www.nydailynews.com/