Los Angeles Dodgers: Rachel Robinson Continues Jackie’s Work
On the 70th anniversary of Brooklyn Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson breaking the modern color barrier, it’s important to also recognize his wife, Rachel Robinson.
Seventy years ago, Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. As soon as the umpire yelled, “Play Ball!” Robinson became the first African-American to play in the modern Major Leagues. He was a pioneer, a trailblazer, a powerful symbol of the changes to come in Major League Baseball and in society. His status is unquestioned as a game-changing force for integration.
In many ways, Robinson had to go it alone. He had teammates on the field and in the clubhouse, but he couldn’t stay at the same hotels or eat at the same restaurants as the men he played with. He was the sole black player in MLB until Larry Doby arrived almost three months later, but Doby was in a different league and was not an everyday player like Jackie was. Of course, it’s important to note that Doby faced all of the same prejudice and abuse that Jackie did but without the ability to battle the hateful crowds with his performance on the field because he was primarily a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement. So when you remember Jackie Robinson today, think also about Larry Doby going it alone in the AL just a few months after Jackie Robinson.
As for Robinson, he was 0-for-3 in his first game but would go on to score 125 runs with a league-leading 29 steals in his first season. This led to a Rookie of the Year Award and a fifth-place finish in NL MVP voting. He excelled despite being under tremendous pressure.
Many words will be written about Jackie Robinson today, 70 years after he broke down walls in the big leagues. As important as he was, I believe his wife, Rachel Robinson, should be recognized as well. She was and still is an amazing person who will be 95 years old in July.
The Robinsons had been together five years before they got married in 1946. One year later, they were living in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn dealing with the stress of Jackie being the first African-American in the modern Major Leagues. They were both from California and had never experienced the blatant racism they suddenly had to deal with. As Rachel told Sports Illustrated in 2013, “Jack and I heard some things I would never want to repeat… There was such an incredible amount of pressure. It might have driven two people apart. But it had the opposite effect on us, it pushed us together.”
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While Jackie was enduring abuse on the diamond from opposing players and fans, Rachel was often in the stands hearing the same verbal abuse from those around her. The couple had welcomed their son, Jackie Robinson, Jr., into the world just five months before Jackie’s first game with the Dodgers. Along with all of the discrimination and harassment she faced, Rachel lived the life of a baseball wife raising a young child while her husband was often out of town on road trips for a week or more at a time.
Jackie’s career ended after the 1956 season. In retirement, he and Rachel were able to devote more time to the Civil Rights Movement. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of great advancement for African-Americans, from the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Jackie worked hard to increase employment opportunities for African-Americans. At the same time, Rachel continued her education and earned her master’s in psychiatric nursing from New York University in 1959. She went on to work as an assistant professor at Yale University’s School of Nursing.
The early 1970s were a very difficult time for Rachel Robinson. In 1971, Jackie Robinson, Jr. died in a car accident. Jackie died of a heart attack a year later and Rachel’s mother died the year after that. Through all of this loss, she established the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation in order to provide housing for low-income people in 1972. She also launched the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 1973. That foundation has provided college scholarships for over a thousand students over the last 40-plus years.
The recognition and awards for her lifelong work in helping others have added up over the years for Rachel Robinson. She’s earned twelve honorary doctorates. The National Coalition of 100 Black Women bestowed her with the Candace Award for Distinguished Service. In 2007, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig gave her the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award. Two years later, she received the UCLA Medal from Chancellor Gene Block for her lifetime achievements.
On Saturday, with MLB honoring Jackie Robinson on the 70th anniversary of his debut, the Los Angeles Dodgers will unveil a statue of Robinson. The statue will depict the aggressive baserunner sliding across home plate and is modeled after an actual play in his rookie season. Rachel Robinson will be the guest of honor, along with the couple’s daughter, Sharon, and around 200 members of the Robinson family.
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Jackie Robinson deserves the recognition he’s received over the years, but I think he would be the first person to acknowledge that he couldn’t have done it without his wife, Rachel. As she once said, “I was the support person so often misidentified as the ‘little woman behind the great man,’ but I was neither little nor behind him. I felt powerful by his side as his partner, essential, challenged, and greatly loved.”