Racism: the two-headed snake -- Georgia to California -- The athletes emerges -- UCLA and Rachel Isum -- Early stances against racism -- After college -- African Americans and military service -- 2nd Lt. Robinson -- Medical issues -- Camp Hood, Texas -- Back of the bus -- The charges -- The statements -- The investigation -- The Court-Martial -- The verdict -- Final army days -- The Negro Leagues -- Branch Rickey -- Spring training -- Montreal Royals -- Breaking the color barrier -- Federal Bureau of Investigation -- House Un-American activities committee -- Fame, death threats, and retirement -- Life after baseball -- More FBI -- Final days -- Legacy -- Conclusion -- Epilogue: people, places, things-today.
Summary:
"Eleven years before Rosa Parks resisted going to the back of the bus, a young black second lieutenant, hungry to fight Nazis in Europe, refused to move to the back of a U.S. Army bus in Texas and found himself court-martialed. The defiant soldier was Jack Roosevelt Robinson, already in 1944 a celebrated athlete in track and football and in a few years the man who would break Major League Baseball's color barrier. This was the pivotal moment in Jackie Robinson's pre-MLB career. Had he been found guilty, he would not have been the man who broke baseball's color barrier. Had the incident never happened, he would've gone overseas with the Black Panther tank battalion--and who knows what after that. Having survived this crucible of unjust prosecution as an American soldier, Robinson--already a talented multisport athlete--became the ideal player to integrate baseball. This is a dramatic story, deeply engaging and enraging. It's a Jackie Robinson story and a baseball story, but it is also an army story as well as an American story"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.