By Tyler Barrett and Shrineal Patel

How was Jackie Robinson significant in the sport of baseball and the history of the United States?

 Born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia  Youngest of his five siblings  Brought up in poverty by a single mother

 Enrolled at John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College  Participated in four different sports including football, basketball, track, and baseball  Earned the title as the region's Most Valuable Player in the sport of baseball in 1938  Later attended University of California (UCLA)  Received four varsity letters  Forced to leave school before graduating due to financial reasons

 Joined the Honolulu Bears who are a semi- professional football team  Discontinued the following year due to WWII

 Joined the army during World War II and served as a lieutenant  Never saw combat

 After the war he decided to play professional baseball  Leagues were segregated between whites and blacks  Started off in the Negro-League  Soon he recruited by Branch Rickey (the vice president of the Brooklyn Dodgers) to join major league baseball  Joined the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Dodgers, and played his first game on March 17, 1946

 His first major league game was on April 15, 1947 after a batting average of.349 and a.985 fielding percentage with the Royals  Stole home plate 19 times in his career  While in the major league, he became a vocal champion for African-American athletes, civil rights, and other social and political causes  1955 he finally won the World Series  1956 he was traded to the New York Giants  Retired in 1957 with an overall career batting average of.311  1962 he was the first African-American to have ever been inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame

 Joined the field of business and became a civil rights activist  Established Freedom National Bank and served on the board of the NAACP until 1967

 On October 24, 1972 Robinson died from heart problems and diabetes complications, in Stamford, Connecticut  After his death, his wife, Rachel Isum, established the Jackie Robinson Foundation which was formed to honor his life and work  The foundation also helps young people in need of scholarships and mentoring programs

 Not only did he break the color barrier, but he was also one of the best major league baseball players in the history of the sport  Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and then won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949  On April 15 th, 1947 he made his debut with a crowd of 26623, 1400 of them were black  Robinson made such a big impact that some players refused to play along side him and they decided it would be better just to sit out

 Not all major league players despised him, some actually encouraged him  Dodgers manager stated to his team: , “I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a f*****' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded.“

 After signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the following year, the U.S. army desegregated African-Americans and whites in the army  This shows that once the major league decided to break the color barrier other parties decided to follow the trend  Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "I Have A Dream Speech,” Dr. King said it was his dream and vision for America to have a society in which a person is not known for the color of his skin but for his character  In baseball because Robinson broke the color barrier, and athletes are measured simply by talent and ability without consent to color

 Helped Nixon  Trying to have Nixon help the civil rights movement  Nixon lost the election  Later wrote a letter to the Republican Party that basically asked them to make an allegiance with the African-American voters  Helped Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by raising money for him, marching with him, and writing about his wonderful efforts in his New York Post column

 Wrote to the White House urging them to give more governmental support to Dr. King  At the Birmingham protests Robinson and championship boxer, Floyd Patterson flew to Birmingham, Alabama to join the protest  The protesters were attacked by police who used dogs and fire hoses, even though they were just peacefully sitting  Many of the protesters were sent to jail.

 Significant because:  Breaking the color barrier  Helping with the civil rights movement  Helping politicians