I Never Had It Made

Rachel Robinson (née Isum) was born in 1922 in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1945 and married Jackie Robinson the following year. Rachel was a steadfast companion for Robinson in his early baseball career, often being subject to racial abuse in the stands as he became the first modern-era black player in Major League Baseball. Following Robinson’s retirement from baseball in 1956, Rachel returned to school and earned a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from New York University. She later became an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Yale University. 

Jackie Robinson Jr. was born in November of 1946, a few months before his father would become the first modern-era black Major League Baseball player. Although a playful and loving child, Jackie Jr. did have some problems adjusting to his father’s fame growing up. The elder Robinson suggests that Jackie Jr. “began to feel exploited, to sense that perhaps people were making too much of him, not because of himself, but because he was my son” (89). Jackie Jr. joined the Army in 1964 and served in the Vietnam War, returning in 1967 addicted to drugs. Although Jackie Jr. cured his drug addiction, became a counselor himself, and later the assistant regional director of a Daytop Rehabilitation Center, he was tragically killed in an auto accident in 1971. 

Karl Downs was born in Texas in 1912 and later became a minister to Jackie Robinson’s family in Pasadena, California. Robinson describes Downs as someone “who had the ability to communicate with you spiritually, and at the same time he was fun to be with,” adding also that he knew how to listen, “often when I was deeply concerned about personal crises, I went to him” (8). Later becoming the president of Sam Houston State College in Texas, Downs stayed in touch with Robinson over the years and even officiated his wedding. He died shortly after in 1948. 

Born in Portsmouth, Ohio in 1881, Branch Rickey broke into the major leagues as a player in 1905 but had little success. In his final year as a player, he also served as the manager and general manager of the St. Louis Browns (now Baltimore Orioles). Rickey became the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1919 and served as that club’s general manager until 1942, winning four World Series titles. While with the Cardinals, Rickey was credited with largely developing the minor league farm system that is still in use today. However, Rickey is best known for his role in breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 with the signing of Jackie Robinson.

Describing Rickey as “shrewd businessman” and a “man with high ideals,” Robinson argues that “Mr. Rickey had shocked some of his fellow baseball tycoons and angered others by deciding to smash the unwritten law that kept blacks out of the big leagues” (xxi). Rickey’s significance in the life story of Jackie Robinson is unmeasurable and his significance in American sports and racial equality is transcendent. Driven by his commitment to fairness, Rickey was determined to integrate the big leagues, but he knew that it had to be done in such a way to not backfire and that it would take a truly special player to pull it off. Rickey’s search for that player ended with Jackie Robinson, forever linking the two men together. 

Harold Peter Henry Reese, nicknamed “Pee Wee,” was born in Ekron, Kentucky in 1918. A shortstop, Reese became a 10-time Major League Baseball All Star and Hall of Fame inductee after playing his entire career with the Brooklyn (and later Los Angeles) Dodgers. Reese became a trusted ally to Robinson and played a pivotal role in his breaking the color barrier in 1947 as one of his very few welcoming and most supportive teammates. When a sportswriter asked Reese in 1947 about the possibility of Robinson taking over his shortstop position, Reese replied that “it may be he’s just as good as I am. Frankly, I don’t think I’d stand up under the kind of thing that he’s been subjected to as well as he has” (64).  

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1921, Roy Campanella became a Hall of Fame catcher and three-time National League Most Valuable Player Award winner, playing his entire major league career (1948-1957) with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Despite being of mixed race, Campanella was also subjected to Major League Baseball’s color barrier and broke into the big leagues only a season after Robinson did. Campanella and Robinson did not see eye-to-eye on many matters involving race relations, and the alleged feud between them became press fodder in the early-1950s. One sportswriter noted of their feud:

Campy is a Dale Carnegie disciple who believes in ‘getting along’ at all costs, in being exceedingly grateful for any favor or any deed interpreted as a favor. Jackie, on the other hand, is an aggressive individualist who is willing to pay the price, and once having paid it in full, does not believe that effusive thank you’s are a necessary tip (97-98).

William Black was a businessman who got his start selling nuts from a stand in New York City and eventually founded the Chock full o’ Nuts Corporation, a company that specialized in coffee but expanded to full restaurant service with multiple chain shops. Robinson describes Black as someone who “became a millionaire with a flourishing business that eventually became a publicly owned company” (125). Black became well known for his philanthropy and willingness to hire African Americans at a time when hiring discrimination based on race was at its worse. Black hired Robinson in 1956 to become the vice president of Chock full o’ Nuts and also immediately donated a large sum of money to Robinson’s side project of the NAACP’s Freedom Fund Drive, telling Robinson that “if he were in [his] place there wouldn’t be enough he could do for the cause of freedom for black people” (126). 

Born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, Richard M. Nixon became the nation’s 36th vice president with the election of Dwight Eisenhower as president in 1952 and later became the nation’s 37th president in 1968. Robinson supported Nixon’s presidential campaign in 1960, in which he lost to Senator John F. Kennedy. Following his strong support of, and campaigning for, Nixon in the 1960 Presidential Election, Robinson openly acknowledged that he later regretted it because he learned that Nixon was not sincere in his commitment to civil rights advances for blacks. Concerning his disingenuousness, Robinson argues that “Richard Nixon is capable of deep personal goodwill and grace in one-to-one relationships and particularly if he believes you can be useful to his goals” (135). 

Born in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1908, Nelson Rockefeller went on to serve as governor of New York for four terms, 1959-1973, and later as Vice President of the United States, 1974-1977. Though he was the grandson of billionaire John D. Rockefeller and he had enormous wealth himself, he became known for his philanthropy and liberal and progressive views within the Republican Party. Rockefeller was especially progressive when it came to matters of race relations. Robinson supported Rockefeller’s presidential campaign in 1964, serving as a deputy nation director and as a special delegate at the Republican National Convention, but Senator Barry Goldwater won the party’s nomination. Robinson also later worked for Rockefeller when he was governor, serving as Special Assistant to the Governor for Community Affairs within the Executive Chamber. 

Christian minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is widely considered one of the most important, influential, and admired people in American history. King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39-yerars-old. Advancing civil rights through civil disobedience and nonviolence, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and a federally recognized holiday bears his name. Robinson describes King’s chief characteristics as “Godliness, strength, courage, and patience in the face of overwhelming odds” (211). Concerning a disagreement that King and Robinson had over America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, Robinson remarked that “he was and is my idol, but we didn’t always agree” (212). This particular disagreement led to an exchange of highly publicized letters and phone conversations between the two men.