by Jared Garrett

Created on: April 02, 2009   Last Updated: March 13, 2010

Jackie Robinson was the first African-American player in Major League Baseball in modern times. Some people think that Robinson was the first African-American to ever play professional baseball, but that is not true. Racial separation in baseball began in the 1880's, so when Robinson started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he brought an end to sixty years of racial separation in baseball. He broke the color barrier in baseball, making it possible for other African-American people to join Major League Baseball. Despite the obstacles and the prejudice that still existed, Jackie had an unusually successful baseball career.

Early Life
Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, in the United States. The youngest of five children, he was born in 1919, during an epidemic of smallpox and Spanish flu. He was born Jack Roosevelt Robinson; his middle name was given in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt who had died only 25 days previous to Jackie's birth.

In 1920, Jackie's father left, forcing his mom to move the family across the United States to Pasadena, California. Jackie and his brothers and sister grew up without much money. In 1935, Jackie went to high school, where he played several sports, including football, baseball, track and basketball. He lettered in all four of these sports, helping win championships in several. After high school, Jackie enrolled in Pasadena Junior College, where he continued to excel in several sports.

After a few years, Jackie transferred to UCLA. There he became the school's first athlete of all time to win honors in baseball, basketball, football and track. Because of his success at sports, Jackie was invited to take a job with the government's National Youth Administration in 1941. He quit UCLA with one semester remaining so that he could take the job.

When the US entered WWII, Jackie was drafted into the army, where he became an officer. He was assigned to an artillery unit, but then, while training, he had an experience on an army bus that changed his army experience completely. Jackie was ordered to go to the back of the bus, but Jackie said no. The military police arrived and he was arrested. The court-martial process took forever, and by the time the military court decided he was innocent, Jackie's combat unit had joined the war. In fact, Jackie's unit was the first group of black soldiers to enter combat, but he was unable to be with them.

Baseball Career
After the war, Jackie joined an all-black baseball league.

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