Sports and athletics can teach us how to develop
individual skills, become effective members of a
team and to compete and win gracefully.
Sometimes a sport or a player effects us beyond
the enjoyment of the game. This study will focus
on just that. We will see how baseball and Jackie
Robinson transformed the world.
“There’s not an American in This Country Free
Until Everyone of Us is Free” Jackie Robinson
Circle Map-
Good
Citizen
• Jackie Robinson was the ballplayer who broke
the unwritten rule that kept black athletes out
of the major leagues for sixty years.
• Baseball was a segregated sport until the mid1940s when Robinson, prompted by daring
team executive Branch Rickey, broke the color
barrier.
• Robinson endured many challenges to prove his
ability as an athlete.
• He was accepted as an important contributor to
the sport.
• He defended and upheld the dignity of his race.
Students will be able to (SWBAT):
1. Describe the social conditions of the era
2. Analyze the path taken by Robinson to become a
major league player
3. Analyze and evaluate Robinson’s role in social change
by examining primary and secondary sources,
participating in a gallery walk & discussions, and
responding to writing prompts.
• Based on a character from minstrel shows
between the 1830s and 1840s
• Segregation enjoyed legal protection
from the 1880s-1960s.
• These laws, or “black codes”, were
enacted by many states and some cities.
• Forbade intermarriage, service in
public and private facilities, playing
amateur baseball near negro parks, etc.
• Students will list three Jim Crow laws and
trade with three other students
• In a whip-around, students will share one with
the class.
• A short class debrief concludes the activity.
My Ideas in complete sentences1. ________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
My Partners’ Ideas- Speak with three other students and add
one new idea from each person.
1. (name)____________ Idea__________________________
2. (name)____________ Idea__________________________
3. (name)____________ Idea__________________________
Write down one new idea from the class discussion
____________________________________________________
• Began in the depths of The Great Depression
• FDR and WWII
• With men at war, women and minorities enjoyed
economic gains
• Postwar euphoria
• Segregation continues to affect many ethnic groups.
• Baseball thrives as “America’s past time.”
• Blacks play ball in the Negro Leagues.
• Women play ball in a “League of Their Own.”
Quick Write- Describe the historical context that gave the opportunity for women
to play baseball in the early 1940s.
• Born Jan. 31, 1919 in Cairo , Georgia
• Youngest of five children, raised in poverty by
a single mother
• Attended John Muir High School and
Pasadena Junior College
• Played four sports- football, basketball, track
and field, baseball
• Transferred to UCLA to continue athletics
• First student to earn letters in four sports
• Played semi-pro football in Hawaii in 1941
• Served as 2nd lieutenant in U.S. Army from
1942-1944
• Court-martialed for refusing to move to the
back of a segregated bus during training
• Later acquitted and received an honorable
discharge in 1944
• Began his professional career with the Kansas
City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues
• Signed a minor league contract with the
Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945
• Played his first game with the Montreal Royals
in 1946
• Dodger president who signed Jackie to his first
minor and major league contracts
• Scouted and hand-picked Jackie
• Prepped Jackie for the difficult times ahead
• Continued to mentor Jackie for the rest of his
life; Jackie never missed an opportunity to
praise and thank Mr. Rickey for his support
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The player conspiracy
Spring training alone
Slow start- 0 for 24
Racial slurs, taunts and a “little chin music”
Quick Write: How do sports and entertainment
mirror society?
• Winning the respect of teammates
• Hate mail, death threats and more
• Success! National League Rookie of the Year
and an appearance in the 1947 World Series
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10 year major leaguer, all with Dodgers
1947 Rookie of the Year
1949 Most Valuable Player
6 World Series appearances (1955)
14 All-Star game appearances
1962 Hall of Fame Inductee
• Retired in 1956 after refusing a trade to the
New York Giants
• Chock Full O’ Nuts
• Board member of NAACP
• The “ballot and the buck”
• Freedom National Bank
• Campaigning for Richard Nixon
• Work with MLK, Jr.
Quick Write: How would you evaluate Jackie
Robinson as an American citizen?
• Passed away October 24, 1972 at age of 53
• Enabled black players to play in the majors
• Advocate for political rights and economic
opportunities for black men and women
• Demanded more coaching and executive
opportunities for blacks in baseball
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Autobiography, I Never Had It Made
Beloved family carries on
MLB Channel “Jackie Robinson Studio”
Jackie Robinson Stadium, UCLA
Jackie Robinson Foundation
• Jackie Robinson Scholarship
• Permanently retired number
• Jackie Robinson Day April 15
Baseball Jeopardy