Robinson Jeffers
On January 10th, 1887, John Robinson Jeffers, most well known as simply Robinson
Jeffers, was born outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents were somewhat of an odd fit. His father, Dr. William Hamilton Jeffers, was an extremely intelligent yet “reserved, reclusive person” who married a happy upbeat woman who was 23 years younger than himself (Coffin). Despite their age and personality differences, Dr. Jeffers and Annie
Robinson Tuttle had a secure marriage. Dr. Jeffers’s widespread education resulted in a vast knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and the Old Testament. Dr. Jeffers was eager to pass on his knowledge to Robinson. So, when Robinson was only five years old,
Dr. Jeffers began to teach him Greek (Academy of American Poets). Also starting at a young age, Robinson traveled throughout Europe. From age eleven to fifteen, Robinson attended several different European boarding schools: in Zurich, Leipzig, Geneva, Vevey, and Lausanne (Coffin). Though Dr. Jeffers was responsible for Robinson’s frequent transfers, his reasoning is unknown. At each school, Jeffers was seen by his peers as reclusive and pensive—much like his father. In 1903, when Jeffers was 16, he relocated yet another time with his family to Pasadena, California where he enrolled at Occidental
College as a junior. Here, Jeffers succeeded immediately and immensely in courses such as biblical literature, Greek, and astronomy. Jeffer’s natural ambition to learn and his knowledge of numerous languages impressed everyone around him. As a result,
Jeffers made life-long friends and took up hiking—a hobby that he would enjoy for the rest of his life (Brophy 2).
Right after graduating from Occidental College with a BA in literature at age 18,
Jeffers enrolled at the University of South California as a literature major (Brophy 2).
During his first year at USC, Jeffers met his future wife, Una Call Kuster, who was married to a Los Angeles attorney. In 1906, Jeffers went with his family to live in Europe. At this time, he attended the University of Zurich where he took courses in philosophy, history,
Old English, and Spanish poetry. When fall came, Jeffers returned to the University of
Southern California as a medical student (Academy of American Poets). Jeffers remained a medical student for three years, a long time considering Jeffers was enrolled in 9 different schools or programs in 13 years. In 1910, Jeffers decided to leave USC and transferred to the University of Washington to study forestry.
He had to face racism and discrimination. The turning points were when he joined a major league. Little kids were very inspiring because they did not care what color they were or what race they are from. When he met Branch Rickey they both made a bond. As same as Ru they both tried to change their country but Robinson had help and did not start changing the way of baseball. He changed the way his country thought about baseball and Black people. He made them think that baseball should be open to everyone. He also faced many life changing experiences that lead to him to having impact on his country. He also was not the only one who did this besides from Feng Ru. He was one of the men who changed baseball
Branch Rickey was interested in Robinson for two reasons. One, being his talent, of course. Two, Branch Rickey wanted to make a change that will affect the MLB forever. Branch Rickey wanted to assist Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier. Jackie was soon tried on the Montreal Royals for the International Leagues. During this period of time, Jackie Robinson of course attracted a huge amount of attention, both good and bad. Of course, the white citizens were furious and continually frustrated with this “disgrace” to baseball. Although the reactions of Caucasians were negative, African Americans were very supportive and encouraged.
Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children born to Mallie (McGriff) and Jerry Robinson, after siblings Edgar, Frank, Matthew (nicknamed "Mack"), and Willa Mae.[8][9][10] His middle name was in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who died 25 days before Robinson was born.[11][12] After Robinson's father left the family in 1920, they moved to Pasadena, California.[13][14][15]
Branch Rickey had been around baseball all his life. He was a player, coach, manager, and team owner for over sixty years. Branch Rickey was nominated into baseball’s hall of fame and on his plaque it mentions his signing of Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey chose Robinson because he knew he would be able to take all the abuse and keep his cool. Also, he knew Robinson was an outstanding ball player. Branch Rickey has always wanted to integrate baseball since early in his career. Rickey was looking for a strong person who would be able to take the public scrutiny, avoid confrontation, and also a talented ball player. Rickey set his eyes on Robinson because he has had experience in integrating other sports. Robinson attended UCLA and lettered in four other sports.
Robinson drew national attention when Rickey selected him from a list of promising candidates and signed him.
Robinson began playing baseball professionally after being discharged from the army. He started playing in the Negro Leagues, because at this time the sport was segregated and African Ame...
Jackie Robinson, born Jack Roosevelt Robinson, is known for being the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia as the grandson of a slave. He was the youngest of five children and at six months old his father left them. At this time, because it was so hard for African-Americans in the south, his mother Mallie Robinson decided to move them to Pasadena, California where it was easier for African-Americans to live and find jobs.
Whether it was on the football field, on the basketball court, or out on the baseball field, Robinson encountered quite a bit of success wherever he went. (cite) Despite the talents of many African American baseball players, many were deemed inferior to their white counterparts. The sense of inferiority led many baseball players and owners of the teams in the Negro leagues to adjust to the status quo, however, Robinson was not one to simply seek to fulfill the status quo. Robinson was unwilling to conform with what mainstream society tried to force him to conform with, he constantly told his teammates that they should always be ready, someday one of them would be signed to break the color barrier and play in organized ball (cite to pg 48). Unlike many of his peers, he felt a different calling in the sport of baseball.
His middle name was chosen after Teddy Roosevelt because of his public opposition to racism. He had four brothers and sisters (Rampersad 15). As an infant Jackie Robinson’s father left him and his brothers and sisters. He would later try and return but Mallie, Jackie’s mother, had already moved on and wanted nothing to do with him. Mallie was eager to leave things behind so she moved. Robinson and his family moved to Pasadena, California (Rampersad 18). After two years she was able to collect enough money to move to a new house on Pepper Street which was an all-white neighborhood. Later on in his life Robinson went to The University of California, Los Angeles (Johnson 480). While at UCLA Robinson became the first person to letter in four different sports. It was also at UCLA where he met Rachel Isun, who would play a major role in his life. In 1941
While some praised the addition of a black person in baseball, many did not. Robinson goes into detail about his positive relationship with several players, along with his heated association with Walter O’Malley, the Dodger owner, as well as the prominent sportswriter Dick Young, who racism revealed itself in many of Young’s own writing. During his first appearance as a major league baseball player in 1947, Robinsons says that some players were outraged they had to play with him; Rickey said if anyone didn’t want to play with him they could simply leave the
He told himself that his son was going to remember him...and he hoped that he would only remember good and happy things. Jackie was offered a spot on the Brooklyn Dodgers team. Jackie had been a part of many black baseball leagues, but this would be the first white team he would be on. Branch Rickey (the president of the baseball team) knew that Jackie Robinson would be the man for the job. Rickey made sure that Jackie wouldn’t lose his temper at the first sight or racial abuse.
On April 18th, 1967, Jackie Robinson, the first African American professional baseball player, wrote a letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson thanking him for his role in the Civil Rights Act. Within the letter, Robinson uses logos and pathos to reassure the president he is doing a great job, and to persuade him not to give up despite the wartime demonstrations.
Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo. The year Jackie was born was 1919 to a family of farmers. His Mother name is Mallie Robinson. She raised Jackie and four other of her children. They were the only black family around and people gave them a hard time about living around them since they were the only black family on the block. Jackie was the very first black baseball player ever to join the white man’s league.
In 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers desperately wanted Robinson to play for him and his team. He would become the first black MLB player since 1889 when baseball became discriminated. In his first year he was the Rookie of the Year. He debuted in the International League with the Montreal Royals. This the led to Branch’s interest in Robinson since he was considered one of the best players in the International League and considering it was his first time playing with white men.
...anged those around him and changed the way people lived their lives. Robinson was someone who worked for a cause not only for himself, but also for his fellow Negroes, and his country. His work for civil rights not only came when he had to provoke a change for his advancement, but even after he had advanced, he did not forget his fellow Negroes. His acts in the 1950's, 1960's and shortly in the 1970's has helped and influenced America to end segregation and racism in the world.