• Latest
  • Trending
Baseball player Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn Dodgers uniform

How Jackie Robinson’s Wife Helped Him Break Baseball’s Color Line

January 30, 2019
Twitter user posted image of Jesus sitting next to Donald Trump in court

Trump Shares Fake Courtroom Sketch of Himself and White Jesus; Users Respond With ‘Fixed’ Versions of Satan, Black Jesus

October 3, 2023
iraq wedding fire

Wedding Fire That Killed More Than 100 in Iraqi Christian Community Prompts Letter From Pope

October 2, 2023
Pastor Albert Tate has been placed on a leave of absence by his church board for inappropriate text messages and questionable comments

Fellowship Monrovia Church Puts Pastor Albert Tate on Leave Over ‘Inappropriate’ Text Messages

October 2, 2023
Marla Frederick

Religion Scholar Marla Frederick Is First Black Woman to Lead Harvard Divinity School in 200 Years

September 30, 2023
faith leaders

‘God Will Work a Miracle’ — Thousands of Foreign-Born Faith Leaders Could Be Forced to Leave US

September 30, 2023
teacher classroom students

What Black Teachers Face Today Isn’t Much Different From What They Faced During Segregation

September 29, 2023
woman on mic

Professor Charrise Barron Talks Teaching Protest Music’s Evolution From Gospel to Hip-Hop

September 28, 2023
Julie Chen Moonves

‘Big Brother’ Host Julie Chen Moonves Tells How She ‘Found Jesus’

September 27, 2023
Asian Americans

Fear of Ridicule, Desire to Fit In Prompt Some Asian Americans to Partly Hide Heritage

September 27, 2023
laptop

Evangelical Organization Launches ‘Racial Justice Assessment’ Tool

September 27, 2023
megachurches

Are New Jersey’s Megachurches the Answer to the Crisis of Christianity?

September 27, 2023
Christian rapper Dee-1

Rapper Dee-1 Starts Artist/Scholar Residency at Tufts University After Nabbing Nasir Jones Fellowship at Harvard

September 26, 2023
Faithfully Magazine
  • Members
    • Log In
    • Member Home
    • See All Members
    • What’s New
    • Start or Join a Group
    • Your Freebies
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Submit Content
    • Contact Us
    • Give Via PayPal
  • Exclusives
  • Q&As
  • Specials
  • NJ News
  • Listen & Watch
  • Shop
    • Faith Heroes Bookmarks
    • Clothing
    • eBooks
  • Events
    • Community Events
    • FM Live Q&As
  • Resources
    • Black Christian Content
  • Newsletter
Cart / $0.00

No products in the cart.

  • About
    • Advertise
    • Submit Content
    • Contact Us
    • Give Via PayPal
  • Exclusives
  • Q&As
  • Specials
  • NJ News
  • Listen & Watch
  • Shop
    • Faith Heroes Bookmarks
    • Clothing
    • eBooks
  • Events
    • Community Events
    • FM Live Q&As
  • Resources
    • Black Christian Content
  • Newsletter
No Result
View All Result
Faithfully Magazine
Home Uncategorized

How Jackie Robinson’s Wife Helped Him Break Baseball’s Color Line

FM Editors by FM Editors
January 30, 2019
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
Baseball player Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn Dodgers uniform
46
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It

By Chris Lamb

Jackie Robinson will be remembered for his courage, athleticism, tenacity and sacrifice on Jan. 31, the centennial of his birth. By confronting Jim Crow – both as a baseball player and as a civil rights activist – he changed America.

“Back in the days when integration wasn’t fashionable,” Martin Luther King Jr. said of Robinson, “he underwent … the loneliness which comes with being a pilgrim walking through the lonesome byways toward the high road of freedom. He was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.”

I’ve written three books about Robinson, in addition to dozens of columns and articles. I used to wonder how Robinson persevered in the face of so much hate and ugliness. He was certainly as tough a competitor as any athlete who ever lived, and he had an unwavering religious faith.

RelatedArticles

Hyepin Im, founder and president of Faith and Community Empowerment

Hyepin Im, Gabriel Salguero, and Al Sharpton Tapped to Advise on Faith-Based Threats

October 5, 2022
anti war protest

Dying in Combat ‘Washes Away Sins,’ Russian Orthodox Leader Says

October 1, 2022

But I eventually realized that he couldn’t have achieved what he did without his wife, Rachel, whose spirit was as formidable as his own.

Sure, he had his mother, Mallie; his minister, Karl Downs; Brooklyn Dodgers’ president, Branch Rickey, who signed him; and sportswriter Wendell Smith, who served as his ghostwriter and confidante.

Rachel, however, was the only constant.

“She was not simply the dutiful wife,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Roger Wilkins said about Rachel. “She had to live through the death threats, endure the vile screams of the fans and watch her husband get knocked down by pitch after pitch. … She was beautiful and wise and replenished his strength and courage.”

Rachel Isum met Jackie Robinson at UCLA when she was a freshman and he was a senior. Jackie was a four-letter athlete and “a big man on campus,” as she described him.

They married five years later on Feb. 10, 1946, a few months after Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey signed Jackie to play for the organization’s top minor league team, the Montreal Royals.

Two-and-a-half weeks after the wedding, the Robinsons left the relative comfort of Los Angeles to go to spring training in Florida. Robinson would have to confront both baseball’s color line and the Jim Crow laws of the South, where blacks who challenged segregation risked jail, injury or death.

Rachel Robinson accepts the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her husband Jackie Robinson March 2, 2005
Rachel Robinson accepts the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her husband Jackie Robinson on March 2, 2005. (Photo: )

Rachel knew she and Jackie could not react to every racial epithet hurled their way. But she wasn’t averse to quiet forms of resistance. When their plane stopped in New Orleans on their flight to Florida, Rachel saw something she had never seen before: separate restrooms for “white women” and “colored women.” She defiantly walked into restroom marked “white women.”

During that first spring training, segregation laws prohibited the Robinsons from staying in the same oceanfront hotel in Daytona Beach with his white teammates. Nor could they eat in white restaurants. They stayed with a black family and ate their meals in a black restaurant.

Robinson, feeling the weight of representing millions of black Americans, struggled during the beginning of spring training. He had trouble hitting, and he hurt his throwing arm so badly that he could barely lift it.

Rachel calmed Jackie every night in their small room, massaging his sore arm as he raged against the indignities he faced on and off the field. She also learned she was pregnant while they were in Daytona Beach, but decided not to tell him.

“There was such an incredible amount of pressure, it might have driven two people apart,” she told Sports Illustrated in 2013. “But it had the opposite effect on us, it pushed us together.”

At some point, as Rachel later told Robinson biographer Arnold Rampersad, Jackie began to refer to himself not as “I” but as “we.” Jackie and Rachel were united as civil rights activists; they knew, as Rachel put it, “that the issue wasn’t simply baseball but life and death, freedom and bondage, for a lot of people.”

As the spring progressed, Jackie’s arm improved and so did his confidence. He played the 1946 season with the Montreal Royals before being promoted to the Dodgers the next spring. He established himself as one of the best players in the National League. But the racist epithets continued to rain down on him from the stands and the dugouts of opposing teams.

Rachel was determined to make their home a refuge from that malevolence, whether the Robinsons were living in Montreal, New York City, or later, in Stamford, Connecticut.

“We had a pledge to each other that we were going to try to keep the house a haven,” she said. “Someplace safe. Someplace we didn’t have to replay the mess outside.”

Rachel raised their three children while her husband was playing baseball and crusading for civil rights. After earning her master’s degree, she worked as a nurse-therapist and researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She then taught nursing at Yale University while she served as director of the Connecticut mental health center.

After Jackie died, Rachel created the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which has provided scholarships for 1,400 college students.

When the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” was released in 2013, Brian Helgeland, the film’s writer and director, asked Rachel what she thought of the film.

“I loved how much we kissed,” Helgeland recalled Rachel telling him. “And then she got emotional,” he continued. “It was the only thing she ever said to me about the finished film. And it hit me: Her take-away from the whole thing was that she got to see her husband one more time.”The Conversation

Editor’s note: This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.


Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, IUPUI

Leave your vote

0 Points
Upvote

Browse and manage your votes from your Member Profile Page


Share This Post

Share via

Share This Post

  • Digg
  • Tumblr
  • Flipboard
  • SMS
More
  • Report
Advertisement
Ancestry US
46
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It
FM Editors

FM Editors

Faithfully Magazine is a fresh, bold and exciting news and culture publication that covers issues, conversations and events impacting Christian communities of color.

More Articles

ethiopia
Opinion & Analysis

Genocide in Ethiopia? Why Answering the Question Will Be a Challenge

May 20, 2021
mental health
Health

Why Bigotry Is a Public Health Problem

November 26, 2018
Aretha Franklin
Uncategorized

How Aretha Franklin Found Her Voice After Leaving Gospel Music

September 2, 2018

Discussion about this post

Upcoming Events

Oct 5
1:00 pm - 6:00 pm EDT

Event: Black Religion and Critical Theory Colloquium

Oct 10
7:00 am - 11:30 pm EDT

Event: Free Virtual Church Mental Health Summit

View Calendar

Trending

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Tony Evans and Carla Crummie engaged to be married

Dr. Tony Evans Engaged to Former Pastor’s Wife and Widow Four Years After Lois Evans’ Death

September 12, 2023
Pastor Albert Tate has been placed on a leave of absence by his church board for inappropriate text messages and questionable comments

Fellowship Monrovia Church Puts Pastor Albert Tate on Leave Over ‘Inappropriate’ Text Messages

October 2, 2023
faith leaders

‘God Will Work a Miracle’ — Thousands of Foreign-Born Faith Leaders Could Be Forced to Leave US

September 30, 2023
Jemar Tisby Color of Compromise

‘Color of Compromise’ Author Jemar Tisby Comments on Quitting Kendi’s Antiracism Center Amid Probe

September 23, 2023
Marla Frederick

Religion Scholar Marla Frederick Is First Black Woman to Lead Harvard Divinity School in 200 Years

September 30, 2023
Christian Cultural Center

5 Largest Churches in New York City

May 29, 2018
Twitter user posted image of Jesus sitting next to Donald Trump in court

Trump Shares Fake Courtroom Sketch of Him and White Jesus; Users Respond With ‘Fixed’ Versions of Satan, Black Jesus

October 3, 2023
iraq wedding fire

Wedding Fire That Killed More Than 100 in Iraqi Christian Community Prompts Letter From Pope

October 2, 2023
Pastor Albert Tate has been placed on a leave of absence by his church board for inappropriate text messages and questionable comments

Fellowship Monrovia Church Puts Pastor Albert Tate on Leave Over ‘Inappropriate’ Text Messages

October 2, 2023
Marla Frederick

Religion Scholar Marla Frederick Is First Black Woman to Lead Harvard Divinity School in 200 Years

September 30, 2023
faith leaders

‘God Will Work a Miracle’ — Thousands of Foreign-Born Faith Leaders Could Be Forced to Leave US

September 30, 2023
teacher classroom students

What Black Teachers Face Today Isn’t Much Different From What They Faced During Segregation

September 29, 2023

Most Shared Articles

  • Can Money-Making Microgrids Empower Black Churches to Close the Clean Energy Gap?...
  • Dr. Tony Evans Engaged to Former Pastor’s Wife and Widow Four Years After Lois Evans’ Death...
  • Kirk Franklin Finally Finds His Birth Father After 53 Years...
  • Christians Plea for Prayer, Help Amid Haiti’s Surging Gang Violence...
  • ‘Color of Compromise’ Author Jemar Tisby Comments on Quitting Kendi’s Antiracism C...
  • New and Upcoming Books: ‘Sacred Self-Care,’ ‘Unwind,’ ‘Damaged But Not...

From The Archive

Evangelical pastor Paula White and several other Christian leaders pray for President-elect Donald Trump in this screengrab from a Sept. 2015 YouTube video
Uncategorized

Pro-Trump Pastor: Porn Star Affair ‘Totally Irrelevant’

by FM Editors
March 10, 2018
Pastor Jean Pierre Ferrer Michel.
Clippings

This American Pastor Was Abducted in Haiti Weeks Ago, But No One’s Really Talking About It

by FM Editors
October 24, 2021
Dana Chanel and husband Prince Donnell
Clippings

Sprinkle of Jesus Founder Dana Chanel Accused of Scamming Black Business Owners

by FM Editors
November 5, 2021
community
Health

How Living in Community With Others Can Improve Our Health

by Shawn McClendon
July 27, 2019
phone call
Clippings

Pastor Who Spoke With ‘Facebook Killer’ Vows to Keep Conversation Private

by FM Editors
April 19, 2017

Who’s Online

There are no users currently online
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram
Faithfully Magazine

Faithfully Magazine is a news and culture publication centered on Christian communities of color.

Recent News

  • Trump Shares Fake Courtroom Sketch of Himself and White Jesus; Users Respond With ‘Fixed’ Versions of Satan, Black Jesus

Category

© 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC (Owner and Operator)

  • From The Magazine
  • Inspiration
  • News
  • Opinion & Analysis
  • Profiled
  • Q&As
  • Remember
  • Specials
  • New Jersey
  • Listen & Watch
  • Web Exclusives
  • Shop
    • Clothing
    • Faith Heroes Bookmarks
    • eBooks
  • Events
    • FM Live Events
    • Community Events
  • Resources
    • Black Christian Content
  • About Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Submit Content
    • Give Via PayPal
  • Members
    • Log In
    • Your Freebies
  • Subscribe to Faithfully Magazine
  • Newsletter
No Result
View All Result

© 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC (Owner and Operator)

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering on our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Share via

Share This Post

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Copy Link
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Flipboard
  • SMS

Add New Playlist

Log In

Sign In

Login with Facebook
Login with Twitter
Forgot password?

Don't have an account? Register

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Back to Login

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Accept

Add to Collection

  • Public collection title

  • Private collection title

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
Send this to a friend