February is Black History Month and there's no better way to celebrate it than by remembering the man who would grow up to wear number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson.
The man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier was born Jack Roosevelt Robinson, January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. Jackie lettered in baseball, basketball, football and track at UCLA and, in 1941, was named to the All-American football team. Financial needs at home made him leave college and enlist in the Army. Unfortunately, Jackie was court martialed for his objections to racial discrimination, despite ending up honorably discharged.
Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League with the Kansas City Monarchs until one day in 1947 when Branch Rickey, president of the MLB Brooklyn Dodgers, approached Jackie about joining his team. Jackie recognized the historical nature of what he was about to do. He also knew what he would be in for in a Dodgers uniform. He did it anyway. (Article continues below.)
One year in, Jackie was National League Rookie of the Year. In 1949, he was the NL's Most Valuable Player with a batting average of .342. In 1962, Jackie was the first African-American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
You can see a fantastic exhibit on Jackie Robinson's life through pictures, video, narratives and artifacts at the African-American Heritage Museum, 661 Jackson Road, in nearby Newtonville, NJ. The event runs through May 2012 and normal exhibit hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, or by appointment on Monday and Saturday. Admission is free; donations welcomed.
For more details or for driving directions from Atlantic City, please call 609-704-5495 or visit the Museum online. The exhibit is provided by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in cooperation with Jackie's old team, the Dodgers (now Los Angeles), as well as with material from the National Baseball Library and Archives. For a mini-bio on Jackie's life and times in baseball, click the featured video clip to your left.
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