Editing Jackie Robinson (section)

==Early life==
===Family and personal life===
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]] in [[Cairo, Georgia]]. He was the youngest of five children born to Mallie (née McGriff) and Jerry Robinson, after siblings Edgar, Frank, [[Mack Robinson (athlete)|Matthew]] (nicknamed "Mack"), and Willa Mae.<ref name=SABRbio/><ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 15.</ref> His middle name honored former President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who died 25 days before Robinson was born.<ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 7.</ref> After Robinson's father left the family in 1920, they moved to [[Pasadena, California]].<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 15–18</ref><ref name="Robinsonp9">[[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], p. 9.</ref>

The extended Robinson family established itself on a residential plot containing two small houses at 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena. Robinson's mother worked various odd jobs to support the family.<ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 8.</ref> Growing up in relative poverty in an otherwise affluent community, Robinson and his minority friends were excluded from many recreational opportunities.<ref name=Robinson2p17>[[#Robinson2|Robinson, Rachel]], p. 17.</ref> As a result, Robinson joined a neighborhood gang, but his friend Carl Anderson persuaded him to abandon it.<ref name=Robinson2p17/><ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 33–35.</ref><ref name=Eigp10>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 10.</ref>

===John Muir High School===
In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School and enrolled at [[John Muir High School|John Muir Technical High School]].<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 36.</ref> Recognizing his athletic talents, Robinson's older brothers, Frank and Mack (himself an accomplished track and field athlete and [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics|silver medalist]] behind [[Jesse Owens]] in the [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 meters]] at the Berlin [[1936 Summer Olympics]]) inspired Jackie to pursue his interest in sports.<ref name=Eigp10/><ref name=Robinson2p20/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Castrovince |first1=Anthony |title=Olympian Mack Robinson was much more than 'Jackie's brother' |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/mack-robinson-olympic-track-and-field-star-and-jackie-s-brother |website=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]]|date=April 13, 2022}}</ref>

At Muir Tech, Robinson played numerous sports at the [[varsity team|varsity level]] and [[Letterman (sports)|lettered]] in four of them: [[American football|football]], [[basketball]], [[track and field]], and [[baseball]].<ref name="Robinsonp9"/> He played [[shortstop]] and [[catcher]] on the baseball team, [[quarterback]] on the football team, and [[Shooting guard|guard]] on the basketball team. With the track and field squad, he won awards in the [[long jump|broad jump]]. He was also a member of the [[tennis]] team.<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 36–37.</ref>

In 1936, Robinson won the junior boys singles championship in the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament and earned a place on the [[Pomona, California|Pomona]] annual baseball tournament all-star team, which included future [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Famers]] [[Ted Williams]] and [[Bob Lemon]].<ref name=Rampp37>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 37.</ref> In late January 1937, the ''[[Pasadena Star-News]]'' newspaper reported that Robinson "for two years has been the outstanding athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball, and tennis."<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 39.</ref>

===Pasadena Junior College===
After Muir, Robinson attended [[Pasadena City College|Pasadena Junior College]] (PJC), where he continued his athletic career by participating in basketball, football, baseball, and track.<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 40–41.</ref> On the football team, he played quarterback and [[Safety (American football position)|safety]]. He was a shortstop and [[leadoff hitter]] for the baseball team,<ref name=Robinsonp9/> and he broke an American junior college broad-jump record held by his brother Mack with a jump of 25&nbsp;ft. {{frac|6|1|2}} in. on May 7, 1938.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glick|first=Shav|title=Robinson a Baseball Star? That's Only a Quarter of Story|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 31, 1997|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-31-ss-43968-story.html|access-date=October 18, 2021}}</ref> As at Muir High School, most of Jackie's teammates were white.<ref name=Rampp37/> While playing football at PJC, Robinson suffered a fractured ankle, complications from which would eventually delay his deployment status while in the military.<ref>[[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 44.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=[[Media:INTERVIEW Jackie Robinson U.pdf|Sports: Jackie Robinson]] |first=Bob |last=Stone |date=November 23, 1945 |magazine=[[Yank, the Army Weekly]] |volume=4 |issue=23 |type=PDF |page=23}}</ref> In 1938, he was elected to the All-Southland Junior College Team for baseball and selected as the region's Most Valuable Player.<ref name=Robinson2p20>[[#Robinson2|Robinson, Rachel]], p. 20.</ref><ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 54.</ref>

That year, Robinson was one of 10 students named to the school's Order of the Mast and Dagger (''Omicron Mu Delta''), awarded to students performing "outstanding service to the school and whose scholastic and citizenship record is worthy of recognition."<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 59–60.</ref> Also while at PJC, he was elected to the Lancers, a student-run police organization responsible for patrolling various school activities.<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], p. 47.</ref>

An incident at PJC illustrated Robinson's impatience with authority figures he perceived as [[Racism in the United States|racist]]—a character trait that would resurface repeatedly in his life. On January 25, 1938, he was arrested after vocally disputing the detention of a black friend by police.<ref name="Linge, p. 18">[[#Linge|Linge]], p. 18.</ref> Robinson received a two-year suspended sentence, but the incident—along with other rumored run-ins between Robinson and police—gave Robinson a reputation for combativeness in the face of racial antagonism.<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 50–51.</ref> While at PJC, he was motivated by a preacher (the Rev. Karl Downs) to attend church on a regular basis, and Downs became a confidant for Robinson, a Christian.<ref>[[#Rampersad|Rampersad]], pp. 52–53.</ref> Toward the end of his PJC tenure, Frank Robinson (to whom Robinson felt closest among his three brothers) was killed in a motorcycle accident. The event motivated Jackie to pursue his athletic career at the nearby [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA), where he could remain closer to Frank's family.<ref name=Robinson2p20/><ref>[[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 51.</ref>

===UCLA and afterward===
[[File:Jackie robinson ucla track.jpg|thumb|alt=Athlete in UCLA track uniform at the apex of a jump, with legs lunging forward, against a background of an academic building.|upright|Robinson doing the long jump for [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]]]

After graduating from PJC in spring 1939,<ref>[[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 49.</ref> Robinson enrolled at UCLA, where he became the school's first athlete to win [[varsity letter]]s in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track.<ref>[[#Eig|Eig]], p. 11.</ref><ref name=memory1940/>

He was one of four black players on the Bruins' [[1939 UCLA Bruins football team|1939 football team]]; the others were [[Woody Strode]], [[Kenny Washington (American football)|Kenny Washington]], and Ray Bartlett. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the team's four backfield players.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/970425TeammatesRecall.aspx |title=Teammates Recall Jackie Robinson's Legacy |access-date=October 12, 2008 |last=Violett |first=B.J. |year=1997 |work=UCLA Today |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306163340/http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/970425TeammatesRecall.aspx |archive-date=March 6, 2010 }}</ref> At a time when only a few black students played mainstream college football, this made UCLA college football's most {{nowrap|integrated team.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9389095 |title=Washington, Kenny |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106201058/https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9389095 |archive-date=January 6, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00412.x |first=Lane |last=Demas |journal=History Compass |title=Beyond Jackie Robinson: racial integration in American college football and new directions in sport history |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=675–690 |year=2007}}</ref>}} They went undefeated with four ties at {{nowrap|6–0–4.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thesportjournal.org/article/the-interrelated-back-stories-of-kenny-washington-reintegrating-the-nfl-in-1946-and-jackie-robinson-integrating-major-league-baseball-in-1947/ |access-date=November 25, 2017 |last=Stefani |first=Raymond |date=March 17, 2015 |work=The Sport Journal |title=The Interrelated Back Stories of Kenny Washington Reintegrating the NFL in 1946 and Jackie Robinson Integrating Major League Baseball in 1947}}</ref> Robinson finished the season with 12.2 yards per attempt on 42 carries, which is the school football record for highest rushing yards per carry in a season as of 2022. Robinson also led the NCAA in punt return average in the 1939 and 1940 seasons.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wittry |first=Andy |title=Jackie Robinson's football career at UCLA hinted at greatness to come, and a 'Toy Story' character |url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2022-04-14/jackie-robinsons-football-career-ucla |date=April 14, 2022 |access-date=June 8, 2022 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |language=en}}</ref>

In [[track and field]], Robinson won the [[1940 NCAA Track and Field Championships#Long jump|1940 NCAA championship]] in the [[long jump]] at {{convert|24|ft|10+1/4|in|m|2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/track_outdoor_champs_records/2006/MD1.pdf |access-date=March 10, 2013 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |title=Outdoor Track and Field: Division I Men's |page=8 }}</ref> [[UCLA Bruins baseball|Baseball]] was Robinson's "worst sport" at UCLA; he hit .097 in his only season, although in his first game he went 4-for-4 and twice [[Stolen base|stole]] home.<ref name=UCLAbio>{{cite web |url=http://spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/jackie-robinson/ |access-date=November 19, 2017 |last=Greenwald |first=Dave |date=February 1, 2005 |publisher=UCLA Athletics |title=Alumnus Jackie Robinson honored by Congress |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210090121/http://spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/jackie-robinson/ |archive-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref>

While a senior at UCLA, Robinson met his future wife, [[Rachel Robinson|Rachel Isum]] (b.1922), a UCLA freshman who was familiar with Robinson's athletic career {{nowrap|at PJC.<ref>[[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], pp. 10–11.</ref>}} He played football as a senior, but the [[1940 UCLA Bruins football team|1940 Bruins]] won only one game.<ref>[[#Linge|Linge]], p. 27.</ref> In the spring, Robinson left college just shy of graduation, despite the reservations of his mother and Isum.<ref>Sources point to various reasons for Robinson's departure from UCLA. Family sources cite financial concerns. ({{cite web |title=Jackie Robinson Biography |url=http://3.128.87.165/biography/ |access-date=August 8, 2024 |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609040549/http://3.128.87.165/biography/ |url-status=dead }}) In addition, Robinson himself cited his growing disillusionment about the value of a college degree for a black man of his era. ([[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], p. 11.) Other sources suggest that Robinson was uninterested in academics, and behind on class work at the time he left UCLA. ([[#Falkner|Falkner]], p. 45; [[#Eig|Eig]], p. 13.)</ref> He took a job as an assistant athletic director with the government's [[National Youth Administration]] (NYA) {{nowrap|in [[Atascadero, California]].<ref name="Gale Group">{{cite web|url=http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/robinson_j.htm |title=Black History Biographies Jackie Robinson |access-date=November 24, 2008 |publisher=[[Gale (Cengage)|Gale Cengage Learning]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115020111/http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/robinson_j.htm |archive-date=January 15, 2009 }}</ref><ref>[[#Linge|Linge]], p. xiii.</ref><ref name=Robinsonp12>[[#Robinson|Robinson, Jackie (1972)]], p. 12.</ref>}}

After the government ceased NYA operations, Robinson traveled to [[Honolulu]] in the fall of 1941 to play football for the semi-professional, racially integrated Honolulu {{nowrap|Bears.<ref name="Gale Group"/><ref name=Robinsonp12/>}} After a short season, Robinson returned to California in December 1941 to pursue a career as running back for the [[Los Angeles Bulldogs]] of the [[Pacific Coast Football League]].<ref name=Gill>{{cite journal|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-03-295.pdf |first=Bob |last=Gill |journal=The Coffin Corner |title=Jackie Robinson: Pro Football Prelude |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=1–2 |year=1987 |access-date=May 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127050105/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-03-295.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref> By that time, however, the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] had taken place, which drew the United States into [[World War II]] and ended Robinson's nascent football career.<ref name = "Gale Group"/>