As Major League Baseball’s opening day approaches, three Brooklyn institutions plan exhibitions and events leading up to the 70th anniversary of the day Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), National Grid and St. Francis College have banded together to commemorate Robinson’s debut on the field on April 15, 1947, where he cracked the starting lineup playing first base. With this historic moment, Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball, signifying, once and for all, the end to segregation in the Major Leagues.
Each of the three partnering organizations acknowledges the anniversary in their own respective ways. On April 5, BHS opens a year-long exhibition titled Until Everyone Has It Made: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy, which tells the story of Robinson the extraordinary athlete, and Robinson the dedicated fighter for equal rights. Among the many objects on view is the treasured Dodger’s 1955 World Series Championship banner.
At noon that day, sports historian Joseph Dorinson will deliver a public lecture on Robinson’s contribution to American history at St. Francis College. And from April 3 until April 14, National Grid hosts a pop-up exhibition that tells the story of Jackie Robinson’s life.
The collaborative celebration is also an educational event for students from grade school through college. St. Francis College freshmen enrolled in a class about protest took multiple trips to BHS’s Othmer Library to conduct research on the event that changed baseball. After examining artifacts and other resources they created a brochure that will be available at the two exhibitions and lecture, teaching visitors about this moment in history and how it relates to the art of protest.
In addition, during the 2017-2018 school year, BHS educators will offer on-site school groups a special exhibition-based program that uses Robinson’s life as a springboard to discuss segregation, social justice, and protest.
“In honoring the legacy of Jackie Robinson, we are thrilled to partner with some of Brooklyn’s finest institutions. By engaging students of all ages in this celebration, we are able to impart the importance of Robinson’s role in shaping American history to a new generation,” said BHS President Deborah Schwartz.
“Jackie Robinson’s commitment to Brooklyn – and his perseverance and courage – paved a way into the history of baseball and the civil rights movement,” said Ken Daly, President of National Grid New York. “National Grid is pleased to celebrate our shared history – as our legacy company headquarters was next to the former Dodgers headquarters, where history was made when Jackie signed his groundbreaking contract. I am so proud to work for a company that has its own long history of supporting the Brooklyn community and building a team of employees who are diverse and inclusive in every way. On a personal note, Jackie Robinson was a hero to my Dad who has special memories of being a Dodgers fan as a child and I am now privileged to share Jackie’s lessons with my own four children.”
“By integrating America’s national pastime in 1947, Jackie Robinson paved the way for the decades of major civil rights victories that followed,” said St. Francis College History Professor Sara Rzeszutek Haviland, whose students have been researching Robinson all year and designed the brochure which accompanies the exhibitions. “As a college that embraces diversity and inclusion, St. Francis is excited to participate in this community partnership to honor Robinson’s life and legacy. We are also thrilled that this event has given our students the opportunity to conduct hands-on archival research and participate in such a significant celebration.”
The Exhibition: Until Everyone Has It Made: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy will run from April 5 – June 2018 in Brooklyn Heights.
Brown Bag Lunch and Lecture: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy is slated for between 12 noon – 1:30 p.m., April 5, at St. Francis College, 182 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights.
The Jackie Robinson Pop-up Exhibition is slated to run from 8:15 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday at National Grid, One MetroTech Center, 2nd floor. All the events are open to the public.
