California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

House Resolution No. 24

Introduced by Assembly Member Bradford

August 14, 2013

House Resolution No. 24—Relative to Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson.

WHEREAS, Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was born in
Cairo, Georgia, on January 31, 1919, to a family of sharecroppers.
His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and
her four other children. In the early 1920s, the family moved to
Pasadena, where they were the only black family on their block,
and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond;
and

WHEREAS, In Pasadena, Jackie Robinson attended John Muir
High School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an
excellent athlete and played four sports--football, basketball, track,
and baseball--and was named the region’s Most Valuable Player
in baseball in 1938; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson continued his education at the
University of California, Los Angeles, where he became the
university’s first student to win varsity letters in four sports, and
where, in 1941, despite his athletic success, he was forced to leave
UCLA just shy of his graduation due to financial hardship; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson moved to Honolulu, Hawaii,
where he played football for the semiprofessional Honolulu Bears,
but his season with the Bears was cut short when the United States
entered World War II; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson served as a second lieutenant in
the United States Army from 1942 to 1944. He was arrested and
court martialed during boot camp after he refused to move to the
back of a segregated bus during training; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was later acquitted of the charges
and received an honorable discharge. His courage and moral
objection to the segregation he encountered were precursors to the
impact he would have on major league baseball; and

WHEREAS, After his discharge from the Army in 1944, Jackie
Robinson began playing in the Negro Leagues, but he was soon
chosen by Branch Rickey, the President and General Manager of
the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball;
and

WHEREAS, He joined the all-white Montreal Royals, a farm
team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1945, and subsequently moved
to Florida in 1946 to begin spring training with the Royals, and
played his first game on March 17 of that year; and

WHEREAS, Despite racial abuse, particularly at away games,
Jackie Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals during
the 1946 season, leading the International League with a .349
batting average. This excellent year led to his promotion to the
Brooklyn Dodgers, and his debut game on April 15, 1947, marked
the first time in the 20th century that an African American athlete
played in the major leagues; and

WHEREAS, Even though some of his Dodger teammates
objected to Jackie Robinson’s joining the team, Dodgers manager
Leo Durocher informed them that he would sooner trade them than
Jackie Robinson. Durocher’s loyalty to Jackie Robinson set the
tone for the rest of Robinson’s Dodger career; and

WHEREAS, The harassment of Jackie Robinson continued,
however, most notably by the Philadelphia Phillies and their
manager Ben Chapman. During one infamous game, Chapman
and his team shouted epithets at Robinson from their dugout, while
many players on opposing teams threatened not to play against the
Dodgers; and

WHEREAS, Many others defended Jackie Robinson’s right to
play in the major leagues, including National League President
Ford Frick, Baseball Commissioner A.B. “Happy” Chandler, and
future Hall of Fame members Hank Greenberg and Harold “Pee
Wee” Reese; and

WHEREAS, In one incident, while fans harassed Jackie
Robinson from the stands, his teammate Pee Wee Reese walked
over and put his arm around Robinson, a gesture that has become
legendary in baseball history; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson succeeded in putting prejudice
and racial strife aside, and showed everyone what a talented player
he was; so much so, that in his first year, he hit 12 home runs and
helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant; and

WHEREAS, In that year, Jackie Robinson led the National
League in stolen bases and was selected as Rookie of the Year.
He continued to wow fans and critics alike with impressive feats,
such as an outstanding .342 batting average during the 1949 season,
the lead in stolen bases that year, and the National League’s Most
Valuable Player Award; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson became a vocal champion for
African American athletes, civil rights, and other social and
political causes, so that, after baseball, he became active in business
and continued his work as an activist for social change; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson worked as an executive for the
Chock Full o’Nuts coffee company and restaurant chain, and helped
establish the Freedom National Bank. He also served on the board
of the NAACP until 1967 and was the first African American to
be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1972, the
Dodgers retired his uniform number of 42; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson retired on January 5, 1957, from
professional baseball with an impressive career batting average of
.311, and in his later years, he continued to lobby for greater
integration in sports; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson died from heart problems and
diabetes complications on October 24, 1972, in Stamford,
Connecticut. He was survived by his wife, Rachel Isum Robinson,
a nursing student whom he had met at UCLA, and two of his three
children, Sharon and David; his oldest child, Jackie Jr., had died
in an automobile accident in 1971; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson’s jersey number 42 was retired
leaguewide in 1997, and he remains the only player to have his
number retired leaguewide; and

WHEREAS, In 2004, Major League Baseball declared April 15
as Jackie Robinson Day, and since 2007 Major League Baseball
has celebrated Jackie Robinson Day by allowing every player to
wear jersey number 42. Therefore, it is altogether fitting to rename
former State Route 42 after Jackie Robinson; and

WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson’s life and legacy will be
remembered as one of the most important in American history. In
1997, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of his breaking
major league baseball’s color barrier, and in doing so, we honored
the man who stood defiantly against those who would work against
racial equality and acknowledged the profound influence of one
man’s life on American culture; and

WHEREAS, On the anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s historic
debut, all major league baseball teams across the nation celebrated
this milestone; also that year, the United States Postal Service
honored Robinson by making him the subject of a commemorative
postage stamp; and on that Tuesday, April 15, 1997, President Bill
Clinton paid tribute to Jackie Robinson at Shea Stadium in New
York in a special ceremony; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly urges the Cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, Downey,
South Gate, and Norwalk, and the County of Los Angeles to work
together to rename Manchester Avenue and Firestone Boulevard
(formerly State Route 42) after the Hall of Fame baseball player
Jackie Robinson; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.