This April 11th and 12th, PBS member stations nationwide aired Ken Burns’ documentary about baseball legend Jackie Robinson.
Robinson, a Georgia-born, right-handed batter, debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers team on April 15, 1947. He primarily played second base. But he knew his way around the other bases, running and stealing them with ease. Robinson became the National Baseball League’s MVP in 1949, and during his 10 years with the Dodgers, the team won six pennants.
Jackie Robinson was also the first African American to play in the then all-white major leagues.
The Brooklyn Dodgers recruited Robinson from the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs team during a time when America legally mandated that black and white races remain separate – and unequal. Robinson’s endured countless racially motivated threats, insults and discrimination as he integrated one of the country’s most popular sports.
But Robinson persevered. As a result, scores of black and other players of color followed him onto America’s baseball fields. And because of his fortitude and talent, Robinson became a Baseball Hall of Fame inductee in 1962.
Burns’ Jackie Robinson documentary is just the latest in a long line of media tributes. One of the earliest dramatic rendering of Robinson’s feats aired November 21, 1949 on WMAQ in Chicago.
The Rime of the Ancient Dodger was writer Richard Durham’s poetically whimsical take on Robinson’s story – an episode in his award-winning Destination Freedom radio series.
To hear Durham’s show, featuring a young Studs Terkel (who would go on to become an award-winning writer and radio personality) as an ancient, all-knowing Dodgers fan, and an even younger Oscar Brown Jr. (who became a popular entertainer and activist) as Robinson, click here (and choose episode #16).
And to hear a minute long tribute to Robinson from one of my Howard University students, click below.