Changes

|school=[[UCLA]]

|school=[[UCLA]]

|draft=Undrafted

|draft=Undrafted

|debut=April 14 1947

|debut=April 14, 1947

|final=September 30 1956

|final=September 30, 1956

|birth=January 31 1919

|birth=January 31, 1919

|countryoforigin=USA

|countryoforigin=USA

|death=October 24 1972

|death=October 24, 1972

|teams=

|teams=

*[[Brooklyn Dodgers]] (1947–1956)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinja02.shtml?redir|work=Baseball-Reference.com|title=Jackie Robinson|format=HTML|language=English|accessdate=May 3 2009}}</ref>

*[[Brooklyn Dodgers]] (1947–1956)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinja02.shtml?redir|work=Baseball-Reference.com|title=Jackie Robinson|language=English|accessdate=May 3, 2009}}</ref>

}}

}}

'''Jackie Roosevelt Robinson''' (Cairo, [[Georgia]], January 31, 1919 - Stanford , [[Connecticut]], October 24, 1972) was a US Army officer and the first black [[Major League Baseball]] player.  Robinson played second base for the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] from 1947 until his retirement in 1956.  Prior to joining the Dodgers he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro League in 1945, and the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate [[Montréal]] Royals, where he became the first black baseball player to play on an integrated team, in 1946. He was also was a four sport star (baseball, [[football]], [[basketball]] and [[track]]) at [[UCLA]].

'''Jackie Roosevelt Robinson''' (Cairo, [[Georgia]], January 31, 1919 - Stanford , [[Connecticut]], October 24, 1972) was a US Army officer and the first black [[Major League Baseball]] player.  Robinson played second base for the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] from 1947 until his retirement in 1956.  Prior to joining the Dodgers he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro League in 1945, and the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate [[Montréal]] Royals, where he became the first black baseball player to play on an integrated team, in 1946. He was also was a four sport star (baseball, [[football]], [[basketball]] and [[track]]) at [[UCLA]].

== Career ==

== Career ==

Robinson was voted baseball's Rookie of the Year in 1947, and the National League Most Valuable Player in 1949.  He was selected for the National League All-Star team six consecutive seasons (1949-54 ) and playedin the World Series in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956.  Robinson was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1962, receiving 124 of a possible 160 votes.

Robinson was voted baseball's Rookie of the Year in 1947, and the National League Most Valuable Player in 1949.  He was selected for the National League All-Star team six consecutive seasons (1949–54 ) and playedin the World Series in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956.  Robinson was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1962, receiving 124 of a possible 160 votes.

==Political views==

==Political views==

===Statement to The House Committee on Un-American Activities===

===Statement to The House Committee on Un-American Activities===

In 1949, Jackie Robinson struggled with his decision to testify before The House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding the widely misquoted declaration made by the famous entertainer [[Paul Robeson]] that African Americans would not support the United States in a war with the Soviet Union due to their continued second-class citizen status under law following World War II. Technically, Robinson was not required to testify, but he knew there would be repercussions if he did not.

In 1949, Jackie Robinson struggled with his decision to testify before The House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding the widely misquoted declaration made by the famous entertainer [[Paul Robeson]] that African Americans would not support the United States in a war with the Soviet Union due to their continued second-class citizen status under law following World War II. Technically, Robinson was not required to testify, but he knew there would be repercussions if he did not.

In July 1949, Robinson eventually agreed to testify before HUAC, fearing that declining to do so might negatively and permanently damage his career.<ref name="Duberman 361-62">[[#Duberman|Duberman]], pp. 361&ndash;62.</ref> His testimony was a major media event, with Robinson's carefully-worded statement appearing on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]'' the following day. In the statement &ndash; prepared with the help of [[Branch Rickey]], who in order to facilitate the testimony, released Robinson from a prior agreement not to make any political statements during his baseball career<ref name=Whitfield>{{cite book |title=The Culture of the Cold War (2d. ed.) |isbn=9780801851957 |last=Whitfield |first=Stephen J. |year=1996 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Robinson+testimoy+HUAC&source=bl&ots=NvdP0fxoTr&sig=DjDZP_BZqUgv00r38lqmrNJZ3YE&hl=en&ei=PZ_fSZqkI-HslQeFrLHgDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA194,M1 |page=194}}</ref> &ndash; Robinson said that Robeson “has a right to his personal views, and if he wants to sound silly when he expresses them in public, that is his business and not mine . . . . He’s still a famous ex-athlete and a great singer and actor.”<ref name="Duberman 361-62"/> Robinson also stated that "the fact that it is a Communist who denounces injustice in the courts, police brutality, and lynching when it happens doesn't change the truth of his charges," and that racial discrimination is not "a creation of Communist imagination."<ref name=Duberman361>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 361.</ref><ref name=Whitfield/>  Robinson left the capital immediately after his testimony to avoid, as the black newspaper ''New Age'', pointed out, "being Jim Crowed by Washington's infamous lily-white hotels."<ref>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 360.</ref>

In July 1949, Robinson eventually agreed to testify before HUAC, fearing that declining to do so might negatively and permanently damage his career.<ref name="Duberman 361-62">[[#Duberman|Duberman]], pp. 361&ndash;62.</ref> His testimony was a major media event, with Robinson's carefully-worded statement appearing on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]'' the following day. In the statement &ndash; prepared with the help of [[Branch Rickey]], who in order to facilitate the testimony, released Robinson from a prior agreement not to make any political statements during his baseball career<ref name=Whitfield>{{cite book |title=The Culture of the Cold War (2d. ed.) |isbn=9780801851957 |last=Whitfield |first=Stephen J. |year=1996 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Robinson+testimoy+HUAC&source=bl&ots=NvdP0fxoTr&sig=DjDZP_BZqUgv00r38lqmrNJZ3YE&hl=en&ei=PZ_fSZqkI-HslQeFrLHgDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA194,M1 |page=194}}</ref> &ndash; Robinson said that Robeson “has a right to his personal views, and if he wants to sound silly when he expresses them in public, that is his business and not mine . . . . He’s still a famous ex-athlete and a great singer and actor.”<ref name="Duberman 361-62"/> Robinson also stated that "the fact that it is a Communist who denounces injustice in the courts, police brutality, and lynching when it happens doesn't change the truth of his charges," and that racial discrimination is not "a creation of Communist imagination."<ref name=Whitfield/><ref name=Duberman361>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 361.</ref>  Robinson left the capital immediately after his testimony to avoid, as the black newspaper ''New Age'', pointed out, "being Jim Crowed by Washington's infamous lily-white hotels."<ref>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 360.</ref>

===Aftermath===

===Aftermath===

While Robeson considered Robinson's testimony a "disservice" to the black community, he declined to comment on Robinson personally: "I am not going to permit the issue to boil down to a personal feud between me and Jackie.  To do that, would be to do exactly what the other group wants us to do."<ref>{{cite book |title=Paul Robeson Speaks |last=Foner |isbn=9780806508153 |year=1978 |first=Philip S |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=V_CJfbpKOLwC&pg=PA126&dq=isbn:9780806508153#PPA219,M1 |page=219 |chapter=Let's Not Be Divided}}</ref> Jackie Robinson appreciated Robeson's restraint, and eventually grew to have greater admiration for Robeson.  Near the end of his life, Robinson wrote in his autobiography about the incident:

While Robeson considered Robinson's testimony a "disservice" to the black community, he declined to comment on Robinson personally: "I am not going to permit the issue to boil down to a personal feud between me and Jackie.  To do that, would be to do exactly what the other group wants us to do."<ref>{{cite book |title=Paul Robeson Speaks |last=Foner |isbn=9780806508153 |year=1978 |first=Philip S |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=V_CJfbpKOLwC&pg=PA126&dq=isbn:9780806508153#PPA219,M1 |page=219 |chapter=Let's Not Be Divided}}</ref> Jackie Robinson appreciated Robeson's restraint, and eventually grew to have greater admiration for Robeson.  Near the end of his life, Robinson wrote in his autobiography about the incident:

<blockquote>However, in those days I had much more faith in the ultimate justice of the American white man than I have today. I would reject such an invitation if offered now . . . . I have grown wiser and closer to the painful truths about America’s destructiveness. And I do have increased respect for Paul Robeson who, over the span of twenty years, sacrificed himself, his career, and the wealth and comfort he once enjoyed because, I believe, he was sincerely trying to help his people.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Gx5O0-WeBnEC&pg=PA28&dq=ISBN0060555971#PPP1,M1 |title=I Never Had It Made |last=Robinson |first=Jackie |year=1972 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=New York |isbn=0060555971 |chapter=My Own Man |pages=85&ndash;86}}</ref><ref>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 361.</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>However, in those days I had much more faith in the ultimate justice of the American white man than I have today. I would reject such an invitation if offered now . . . . I have grown wiser and closer to the painful truths about America’s destructiveness. And I do have increased respect for Paul Robeson who, over the span of twenty years, sacrificed himself, his career, and the wealth and comfort he once enjoyed because, I believe, he was sincerely trying to help his people.<ref name="Duberman361"/><ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Gx5O0-WeBnEC&pg=PA28&dq=ISBN0060555971#PPP1,M1 |title=I Never Had It Made |last=Robinson |first=Jackie |year=1972 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=New York |isbn=0060555971 |chapter=My Own Man |pages=85&ndash;86}}</ref></blockquote>