January 12, 2011

Rachel Robinson Honored

Ohio Wesleyan University will award Rachel the second Branch Rickey Award. Rachel is the widow of Jackie Robinson. From the press release:

Rachel Robinson is only the second person in history to receive Ohio Wesleyan’s Branch Rickey Award, with the inaugural award presented to tennis player Arthur Ashe in 1988. The award was created in memory of Rickey, a 1904 Ohio Wesleyan graduate who partnered with Jackie Robinson to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier. Their courage and vision helped to end racial segregation in professional sports and set the stage for the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

“Branch Rickey’s commitment to racial equality was solidified during his time as a student and baseball coach at Ohio Wesleyan after he witnessed the despair of a black athlete denied hotel lodging with his white teammates,” said University President Rock Jones, Ph.D. “As Rickey watched the distraught athlete pulling at his skin, Rickey vowed that if he ever had the chance to help end segregation, he would do so without hesitation. A man of his word, Rickey changed history when, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he signed Jackie Robinson.”

That signing was a true partnership among Rickey, Robinson, and Robinson’s wife, Rachel. Both Jackie and Rachel Robinson attended advance meetings with Rickey to discuss what the signing would mean and how it would change their lives forever.

You can read more about the celebration of Branch Rickey and the Robinsons at the school here. Congratulations to Rachel, and may I dare say, here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson.

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