Also American

Person · 1919–1972

Jackie Robinson

The athlete who broke Major League Baseball's color line in 1947, enduring abuse to open the game to Black players.

A turning point in [[black-sports]] and American life.

Chosen for his talent and his discipline, Jackie Robinson integrated the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, facing death threats and slurs with a restraint that changed the country. He became Rookie of the Year and, later, a forceful civil-rights advocate.

Sport

On the timeline

  1. February 13, 1920
    The Negro National League

    Rube Foster organizes the first lasting Black professional baseball league.

  2. April 15, 1947
    Jackie Robinson integrates baseball

    Robinson breaks Major League Baseball's color line, enduring abuse to open the game.

Resources

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

  • connects to·Thread
    The Civil Rights Movement

    Robinson's 1947 integration of baseball prefigured and fed the postwar civil-rights struggle.