The Jackie Robinson Foundation
The Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) is a public, not-for-profit national organization founded by Rachel Robinson in 1973 as a vehicle to perpetuate the memory of Jackie Robinson and his achievements. Serving as an advocate for young people with the greatest need, the Foundation assists increasing numbers of minority youths through the granting of four-year scholarships for higher education.
The Jackie Robinson Foundation provides much more than financial support. While each Jackie Robinson Scholar receives up to $7,500 a year in direct support, they also become an active member in the Foundation’s unique Education and Leadership Development Program, which is an extensive mentoring program that includes attendance at workshops, assignment of a peer and a professional mentor and placement into summer internships and permanent employment.
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Robinson’s contributions have been recognized in a number of ways. He ranks highly in a number of polls and lists, has received several awards, and has had buildings and events named in his honor. According to a poll conducted in 1947, Robinson was the second most popular man in the country, behind Bing Crosby, and was the embodiement of “Black Pride” long before the popular movement. In 1999, he was named by Time magazine on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote getter for second basemen. Baseball writer Bill James, in the “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract”, ranked Robinson as the 32nd greatest player of all time based strictly on his performance on the field, noting that he was one of the top players in the league throughout his career. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Jackie Robinson on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
Robinson has also been recognized outside of baseball. In December 1956 the NAACP recognized him with the Spingarn Medal, which it awards annually for the highest achievement by an African-American. President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the 1985 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and on October 29, 2003, the United States Congress posthumously awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the Congress can bestow. Robinson’s widow accepted the award in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on March 2, 2005. Robinson is only the second baseball player to receive the Congressional Gold Medal; Roberto Clemente is the other baseball player who has earned the medal. On August 20, 2007 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that he would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame on December 5, 2007, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.
Major League Baseball has honored Robinson several times since his death. In 1987, the Rookie of the Year Award was renamed the Jackie Robinson Award in honor of its first winner. On April 15, 1997, Robinson’s #42 was retired by Major League Baseball, which means that no future player on any major league team can wear it. The number was retired in ceremonies at Shea Stadium to mark the 50th anniversary of Robinson’s first game with the Dodgers. A handful of players who wore #42 as a salute to Robinson, such as the Mets’ Butch Huskey and Boston’s Mo Vaughn, were allowed to continue to use the number. The Yankees’ Mariano Rivera will be the last player in the major leagues to wear # 42.
Each year on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day is celebrated, commemorating and honoring the day Robinson made his major league debut. Jackie Robinson Day was initiated in 2004 and has been celebrated every year since. On April 15, 2007, the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s major league debut, Major League Baseball invited players to wear the number 42 just for that day to commemorate Robinson. The gesture was the idea of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., who first sought Rachel Robinson’s permission, and, after receiving it, asked Commissioner Bud Selig for permission. Selig extended the invitation to all major league teams. Ultimately, more than 200 players wore number 42, including the entire rosters of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. The tribute was continued in 2008, when, during the April 15 games, all members of the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and Tampa Bay Rays wore Robinson’s # 42.
Robinson has had a number of buildings named in his honor. The UCLA Bruins baseball team plays in the Jackie Robinson Stadium. In addition, City Island Ballpark, the baseball field in Daytona Beach that became the Dodgers’ de facto spring training site in 1947, was renamed Jackie Robinson Ballpark in his honor. The New York Public School system has named a middle school after Robinson, and Dorsey High School in Los Angeles named their football stadium after him.
At the November 2006 ground-breaking for a new ballpark for the New York Mets, Citi Field (scheduled to open in 2009), it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn’s old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Additionally, Mets owner Fred Wilpon said that the club and Citigroup would work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation to create a Jackie Robinson Museum and Learning Center in lower Manhattan and would fund scholarships for “young people who live by and embody Jackie’s ideals”. In 1976, his home in Brooklyn, the Jackie Robinson House, was declared a National Historic Landmark.
Source: "Jackie Robinson." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson> April 2009.
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