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            During his childhood, Jackie Robinson made it through tough times with the help of his mother, as well as many members of his community who helped prepare him for athletic, academic, and social success in a white-dominated world.  At college, he was able to excel at sports and studies which gave him confidence and direction for the future.  His career in the army taught him discipline, but also how to handle discrimination in a way that was appropriate and successful.

            In the Negro Leagues of baseball, he once again developed his fabulous skills as well as insisting on better rights and treatment for himself and his teammates.  All this made him the top candidate to integrate Major League Baseball, where he was prepared for and faced great adversity during his early years in Brooklyn.  Again, with the help of others, this time his wife and teammates, Jackie not only survived these tough years, but became an award-winning player who won a World Championship, was selected Most Valuable Player, and was voted into the Hall of Fame.

            When his career ended, he continued his pioneering efforts in the field of Civil Rights with his connections to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Conference of Christian Leadership.  Along with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson was a major figure in the battle for Civil Rights in the 1950s and 1960s.  In his later years, he became frustrated with the slow movement of political leadership in bringing equal opportunity to all people, and his final wish was to see a black manager in the Major Leagues.

            During this project, we were amazed at all the rules in place to discrimate againts blacks, especially in the South, then to learn of all the amendments needed to destroy those unfair rules.  We realized how truly hard it was for Jackie Robinson to not only become the first black player in the Major Leagues, but to perform as well as he did for as long as he did. Finally, we believe that, even though Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and others deserve credit for achieving greater rights for African-Americans, it was the actions of Jackie Robinson, the focus point of all America in 1947 and beyond, that opened the door to equal opportunity.