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By Alex Sawyer Raymond

Jackie Robinson

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Chosen Photo Analysis

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Jackie Robinson Rounds ThirdBy Ralph MorseSubway Series, New York 1955Medium: Gelatin Silver

“PHOTOGRAPHY IS MORE THAN ART. IN PHOTOJOURNALISM, IT’S KNOWLEDGE” -Ralph Morse-

Achievements: 1st Photographer with a camera on the moon - and still there.

30 years of service for LIFE Magazine.

The Famous Photo

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Important Dates

Born: Jan. 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA

Married: Rachel Issum, February 10, 1946

Years with Dodgers:1947-56

Rookie of the Year award:1947

Most Valuable Player (MVP):1949

Inducted into Hall of Fame: 1962

Died: Oct. 24, 1972 in Stamford, CT

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Early History

1919Jack Roosevelt Robinson is born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31st. His father leaves soon after and “Jackie” Robinson moves to Pasadena, California with his mother and 4 older siblings.

1935Graduates from Dakota, Junior High School then attends John Muir High School, where he plays on the baseball, basketball, football, tennis and track teams.

1937Attends Pasadena Junior College where he plays on the football and baseball teams and takes part in the broad jump.

1938Elected to the All-Southland Baseball Junior College team and later honored as the region’s Most Valuable Player.

1939Attends UCLA, becoming the first student to earn a varsity letter in all four teams: baseball, basketball, football and track.

1941Drops out of UCLA for financial reasons and travels to Honolulu to play football for the integrated, semi-professional Honolulu Bears. He returns to the U.S. mainland on December 5th, before the Pearl Harbor attack.

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Military

1942Drafted into the U.S. Army and promoted from Private to Second Lieutenant the next year.

1944Court-martialed for refusing to sit in the back of a segregated military bus. He is later acquitted and honorably discharged from the Army.

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Early Baseball

1945Plays shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League.

Recruited to the minor league Montreal Royals as second baseman by Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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1947Recruited to play for the Major League Brooklyn Dodgers. He was hand-selected by the President Branch Rickey and the Dodger organization (including part-owner, Vice President and General Counsel Walter O’Malley) to cross the precipitous color line.

Signing

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When he crossed the white lines at the ballpark, Robinson tried to relax and focus on the game, not the constant catcalls. Off the field, the former UCLA four-sport star would also deal with southern bigotry, anonymous death threats, racial slurs no colored served or housed here signs, and opponents who were out to injure him.

Robinson, however, was bound and determined that he would perform to the highest level.

That he did.

Major League Debut

In his first major-league at-bat, Jackie Robinson grounded out to third base.

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The social impact of Jackie Robinson’s inclusion into Major League Baseball in 1947 resonates as one of the civil rights movement’s most significant triumphs. For Robinson, the first African-American to have the opportunity to participate in the major leagues, it was all about playing the game.

Robinson promised Rickey that he would not fight back, other than with his bat and glove.

Significance

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The first African-American to play on a Major League baseball team in the 20th century.

The first Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to Jackie Robinson.

The first African-American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The first Major League baseball player to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

The first baseball player to have his uniform number (42) across all teams by the Major League.

The first UCLA student to earn a varsity letter in all four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.

The first African-American baseball player to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

The first African-American to serve as Vice-President of a major American corporation, Chock Full O’ Nuts 1957-1964.

African American Firsts

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Inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame 1948

NAACP’s Prestigious Springarn Medal

Elected to throw out the first ball at the 1972 World Series

Honorary degree from the University of Maryland

Honorary degree from Franklin Pierce College

Honorary degree from Scared Heart University

Honorary degree from Pace University

Other Awards and Achievements

Honorary degree from the Howard University

The Rookie of the Year Award is renamed the Jackie Robinson Award 1987

MLB All-Star:194919501951195219531954

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Sources

“Jackie Robinson Biography - Black History -.” Biography.com. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. <http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/ featured-biography/jackie-robinson.jsp>.

“Ralph Morse - Jackie Robinson Rounds Third @ GALLERYM.” GALLERY M: Fine Art, Photography, Sculpture. 1.877.331.8401. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. <http://www.gallerym. com/work.cfm?ID=507>.

http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html