Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

U.S. Army

Quick Facts

Significance:

World War Two Buffalo Soldier and Hall of Fame Baseball Player

Place of Birth:

Cairo, Georgia

Date of Birth:

January 31, 1919

Place of Death:

Stamford, Connecticut

Date of Death:

October 24, 1972

Place of Burial:

Brooklyn, New York

Cemetery Name:

Cypress Hills Cemetery

Jack Roosevelt Robinson, nicknamed Jackie, was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children. His parents, Jerry and Mallie Robinson, were sharecroppers. In 1920, his father abandoned the family. After her husband left, Mallie Robinson moved to Pasadena, California, with her five children. The Robinsons were the only Black family on their block.

While attending John Muir High School in Pasadena, Jackie Robinson was encouraged to pursue his interest in sports by two of his older brothers, Mack and Frank. Jackie Robinson earned a varsity letter in football, baseball, basketball, and track. After high school, Robinson continued his education and sports career at Pasadena Junior College. After graduating in 1939, Robinson enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Robinson continued to thrive in sports at UCLA. He was the school’s first four-sport letterman. He earned letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track. It was also at UCLA that he met Rachel Isum, whom he married on February 10, 1946. In the spring of 1941, Robinson dropped out of UCLA in his senior year because of financial difficulties. 

In the fall of 1941, Robinson was playing semi-professional football in Honolulu for a $100 stipend and a job near Pearl Harbor. After reaggravating an old ankle injury he boarded a ship home to California on December 5, 1941, missing the carnage of Pearl Harbor two days later. Robinson later wrote, “The day of the bombing we were on the ship playing poker, and we saw the members of the crew painting all the ship windows black. The captain summoned everyone on deck. He told us that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and that our country had declared war on Japan.”

On April 3, 1942, Robinson was inducted into the U.S. Army. A week later he arrived at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the Cavalry Replacement Training Center. Rachel Robinson later said that Robinson was never comfortable in the saddle or with a gun. However, Robinson eventually qualified as an expert marksman with the M1 Garand Rifle. He was accepted into Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Riley, based upon his college education. On January 28, 1943, Robinson graduated from OCS and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army. Not long after commissioning, Robinson was transferred to the all-Black 761st Tank Battalion stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The 761st would later earn the nickname “The Black Panthers.” 

In preparation for deployment overseas, Robinson went to McCloskey Hospital, 30 miles from Fort Hood, for tests on his ankle. On July 6, 1944, Robinson traveled from McCloskey to Camp Hood to meet friends at the African American officers’ club. 

On an Army bus returning to the hospital, Robinson sat next to Virginia Jones, a Black woman who passed as white, who was the wife of one of Robinson’s friends in the battalion. Jones and Robinson were sitting in the middle of the bus. For practical reasons by June 1944, the War Department had ordered the desegregation of military buses, a policy that flouted Jim Crow laws in the South. After a few blocks, the bus driver, seeing a black officer sitting in the middle of the bus next to a woman he presumed to be white, yelled “Get to the back of the bus.” Robinson, knowing the regulation, responded, “The Army recently issued orders that there is to be no more racial segregation on any Army post. This is an Army bus operating on an Army post.” The bus driver said he would “make trouble” for Robinson when they reached the station. And “make trouble” he did.

When they arrived at the bus transfer station, the station dispatcher appeared. Turning to the bus driver, he asked if Robinson was the one causing trouble. Shortly thereafter, two military police officers arrived to take charge of the situation, placing Robinson in their patrol car. Robinson complied, and the military police brought Robinson back to their station for questioning. Captain Gerald Bear, assistant provost marshal for Fort Hood, questioned Robinson, inaccurately characterizing his side of the story. Robinson responded by protesting loudly. 

On July 17, Robinson was formally charged with six violations of the Articles of War: insubordination, disturbing the peace, conduct unbecoming an officer, insulting a civilian woman, and refusing to obey a lawful order of a superior officer. Robinson’s commanding officer, Colonel Paul Bates, believed that Capt. Bear had conducted an incompetent investigation and refused to sign the charges. Robinson was quickly transferred to the 758th Tank Battalion because its commanding officer was more sympathetic to Bear’s views. Robinson’s new commanding officer signed the charges brought against Robinson. 

On August 2, Robinson’s trial by general court martial began. Four of the original six charges had been dropped before the trial, and Robinson was tried for only for military offenses regarding his interactions with Bear. After four and half hours of testimony, Robinson was acquitted on all charges.

After the acquittal, Robinson was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, and served as a coach for army athletics in the area. He was honorably discharged on November 4.

In 1945, Jackie Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League at a salary of $400 a month, traveling all over the Midwest. He caught the attention of Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. On November 1, the Dodgers signed Robinson to a contract that paid him $600 a month. 

The 1946 season saw Robinson play for the Montreal Royals, a Brooklyn Dodgers Triple-A International League affiliate. The next season on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American player in Major League Baseball in the modern era. He spent 10 years in Major League Baseball, all with the Dodgers. During that time he played in six World Series and six all-star games. In 1962, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on the first ballot, becoming the first African American inducted. Jack Roosevelt Robinson died on October 24, 1972, at the age of 53 in Stamford, Connecticut. Robinson’s funeral was attended by more than 2,500 mourners including former teammates and current athletes. He was buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

On April 15, 1997, Robinson’s jersey number, 42, was retired throughout all Major League Baseball. April 15 is celebrated throughout professional baseball as Jackie Robinson Day as a day commemorating and honoring the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson.