55. soured him on life: WP, Aug. 21, 1949.
56. Many times I felt: Cited in PSN, April 7, 1987.
57. Through some miracle: WP, Aug. 23, 1949.
58. At that time Jackie: Ernie Cunningham, interview.
59. Our gang was made up: I Never, p. 18.
60. There was no drugs: Ray Bartlett, interview.
61. We never got into: I Never, p. 18.
62. Hardly a week went by: ibid.
63. About nine feet tall: Ernie Cunningham, interview.
64. He was always ready: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
65. to his office “often”: “Mrs. Robinson’s Notes.”
66. I think he did: Ray Bartlett, interview.
67. He made me see: I Never, p. 19.
68. He also organized: Sid Heard, interview.
69. I always thought Pasadena: WP, Aug. 21, 1949.
70. At the Kress soda fountain: Bernice Gordon, interview, Feb. 21, 1995.
71. The Robinson the world: L.A. Times, April 4, 1977.
72. The only curse word: Sid Heard, interview.
73. exceptionally good: John Muir Technical High School Yearbook, 1935.
74. You [toe] the line: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
75. much ability: Muir High School Yearbook, 1936.
76. mainstay: ibid.
77. the nucleus of the squad: John Muir Technical High School Yearbook, 1936.
78. Jack was always very: Eleanor Peters Heard, interview.
79. He was a hard loser: Ray Bartlett, interview.
80. snake-hipped: PP, Oct. 11, 1936.
81. dusky … sped around: PP, Oct. 25, 1936.
82. Then the fun started: PP, Nov. 12, 1936.
83. three Glendale boys piled on: PP, Nov. 22, 1936.
84. Robinson was all over: PP, Jan. 30, 1937.
85. for two years has been: PSN, Jan. 29, 1937.
CHAPTER 3
1. created a sensation: PP, March 27, 1937.
2. one of the most: PP, May 24, 1937.
3. the greatest athletic season: PSN, May 29, 1937.
4. Jack was kind of shy: Jack Gordon, interview.
5. I hear you got: ibid.
6. I remember he used: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
7. Say we are at: Jack Gordon, interview.
8. Someone told my mom: ibid.
9. It was there: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
10. in almost every game: PP, July 10, 1937.
11. the most beautiful: PJCC, Sept. 3, 1937.
12. Jack Robinson, the dashing: PJCC, Sept. 14, 1937.
13. fumbled the ball: PP, Nov. 14, 1937.
14. dark-hued phantom: PP, Nov. 25, 1937.
15. I had found out: Jack Gordon, interview.
16. the three colored players: PP, Dec. 8, 1937.
17. Pasadena will lose: PJCC, Dec. 17, 1937.
18. I wouldn’t join it: Ray Bartlett, interview.
19. We wore our official: Jack Gordon, interview.
20. I remember we had: Warren Dorn to author, interview, Sept. 9, 1995.
21. Sure, I socialized: Ray Bartlett, interview.
22. A lot of the time: Shig Kawai to author, interview, Feb. 10, 1995.
23. I felt left out: Ray Bartlett, interview.
24. You can’t eat in here: Jack Gordon, interview.
25. a slurring remark: WP, Aug. 23, 1949.
26. The Oklahoma boys: Jack Gordon, interview.
27. I called a little: Roger Kahn, “Does Jackie Robinson Talk Too Much?” Our World, April 1953, p. 13.
28. Coach Mallory laid down: Carl T. Rowan with Jackie Robinson, Wait Till Next Year (N.Y.: Random House, 1960), p. 42.
29. I decided that Bartlett: Rowan, p. 43.
30. Jack had the ball: Jack Gordon, interview.
31. the stormy petrel: PJCC, Jan. 30, 1938.
32. The next moment: PP, Jan. 23, 1938.
33. There is a story: PSN, April 4, 1987.
34. All that left: ibid.
35. had busted many: Mack Robinson, interview.
36. We didn’t have face masks: Ray Bartlett, interview.
37. They didn’t regard Jack: Henry Shatford to author, interview, Sept. 6, 1995.
38. Is Jack Robinson here?: Jack Gordon, interview.
39. elder members objected: I Never, p. 20.
40. He looked half his age: Eleanor Peters Heard, interview.
41. fearless, rational, comprehensive: Karl E. Downs, “Timid Negro Students!,” Crisis (June 1936), pp. 171, 187.
42. He really was a sort: Ray Bartlett, interview.
43. but no matter how: I Never, p. 20.
44. When I talked with: ibid.
45. there was somebody else: WP, Aug. 23, 1949.
46. instead of stopping: PJCC, March 27, 1938.
47. the greatest base runner: PJCC, May 20, 1938.
48. Geez, if that kid: L.A. Times, April 4, 1977.
49. a rather skinny kid: CDB, Feb. 28, 1941.
50. what struck me then: PSN, Jan. 30, 1987.
51. I couldn’t get over: L.A. Times, April 4, 1977.
52. the greatest all-around: PJCC, June 4, 1938.
53. It is doubtful: PP, June 16, 1938.
54. I never did understand: PSN, April 7, 1987.
55. mainly because the barbers: PP, June 1, 1938.
56. directly responsible for: PP, Sept. 24, 1938.
57. another scintillating exhibition: PP, Oct. 1, 1938.
58. after squirming out: PP, Oct. 23, 1938.
59. phenomenal: PP, Oct. 28, 1938.
60. reversed his field: Duke Snider and Bill Gilbert, The Duke of Flatbush (N.Y.: Zebra, 1988), p. 22.
61. Have you ever seen: PP, Oct. 30, 1938.
62. Gift from Heaven: PP, Dec. 4, 1938.
63. a number of colleges: I Never, p. 22.
64. We all knew USC: Ray Bartlett, interview.
65. a real good scholarship: Henry Shatford, interview.
66. my greatest fan: I Never, p. 21.
67. high class, cultured: Woody Strode and Sam Young, Goal Dust (N.Y.: Madison Books, 1990), p. 84.
68. Don’t bet any money: PP, Dec. 13, 1938.
69. He made a decided: PP, Dec. 21, 1938.
70. Compton’s old bugaboo: PP, Jan. 7, 1939.
71. The phenomenal Negro athlete: PP, Feb. 4, 1938.
72. outstanding service: Pasadena Junior College Yearbook, 1939.
73. To them he was: L.A. Times, April 4, 1977.
74. a free-for-all scuffle: California Eagle, Jan. 12, 1939.
75. we don’t allow Negroes: ibid.
76. of flagrant discrimination: ibid.
77. If my mother, brothers: PSN, April 7, 1987.
CHAPTER 4
1. the wild rumors that: CDB, Feb. 16, 1939.
2. one of the greatest: ibid.
3. the Black Panther: California Eagle, March 9, 1939.
4. his wickedly unorthodox style: California Eagle, July 6, 1939.
5. Mama was living: Willa Mae Walker, interview.
6. I was very shaken: I Never, p. 22.
7. the biggest argument: California Eagle, Aug. 17, 1939.
8. swimming offered: California Eagle, July 27, 1939.
9. use and occupancy: James E. Crimi, “The Social Status of the Negro in Pasadena, California,” M.A. thesis, University of Southern California (June 1941), p. 72, Pasadena Historical Society.
10. and the man said something: Ray Bartlett, interview.
11. he turned pale: WP, Aug. 21, 1949.
12. between 40 and 50: PSN, Sept. 6, 1939.
13. So I withdrew: Ray Bartlett, interview.
14. I found myself: WP, Aug. 21, 1949.
15. an attorney prominent: PSN, Oct. 17, 1939.
16. another Negro youth: PSN, Oct. 18, 1939.
17. the police court had: ibid.
18. that the Negro football: ibid.
19. I got out of that: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
20. I understand: Ray Bartlett, interview.
2
1. Didn’t the newspapers come: WP, Aug. 22, 1949.
22. This thing followed me: ibid.
23. my first personal experience: ibid.
24. There were really two: Henry Shatford, interview.
25. UCLA was the first: CDB, Feb. 2, 1979.
26. Gold Dust Trio: CDB, Sept. 29, 1939.
27. Pasadena and Westwood faithfuls: CDB, Registration Edition, Sept. 1939.
28. We’ve never run: CDB, Oct. 2, 1939.
29. the prettiest piece: California Eagle, Oct. 12, 1939.
30. were unanimous: CDB, Oct. 9, 1939.
31. Three thousand Bruin rooters: CDB, Oct. 16, 1939.
32. Jackrabbit Jackie Robinson: CDB, Oct. 23, 1939.
33. Mr. Robinson took: Oct. 30, 1939.
34. the greatest ball-carrier: California Eagle, Oct. 26, 1939.
35. Bruin stock went all: CDB, Nov. 2, 1939.
36. snaked his way down: CDB, Dec. 1, 1939.
37. Jackie was well past: California Eagle, Dec. 7, 1939.
38. past our secondary: Woody Strode and Sam Young, Goal Dust (N.Y.: Madison Books, 1990), p. 101.
39. Jack Robinson—Better than: CDB, Oct. 27, 1939.
40. “White man, you’re”: Henry Shatford, interview.
41. Kenny is a really: California Eagle, Oct. 5, 1939.
42. the greatest athlete: CDB, Oct. 10, 1940.
43. Jackie was a very: Strode, Goal Dust, pp. 86–87.
44. It was a real treat: Henry Shatford, interview.
45. was always eager to cooperate: Westwood Home Press, Oct. 6, 1955.
46. They had loaned me: Ray Bartlett, interview.
47. When the Headman saw: CDB, Nov. 9, 1939.
48. Jack Robinson, who is: CDB, Jan. 10, 1940.
49. a very willing worker: Robert Campbell to John B. Jackson and Joel Gardner, interview, 1980, UCLA Oral History Program, UCLA Archives.
50. He encouraged me: WP, Aug. 25, 1949.
51. Easily the best man: CDB (Registration Edition, Sept. 1940).
52. the best individual performance: CDB, Feb. 26, 1940.
53. On one series: CDB, Feb. 22, 1940.
54. Robinson has more natural: CDB, Feb. 27, 1940.
55. the speed and shooting: CDB, March 1, 1940.
56. Schools cannot teach that: Arthur Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, 1951), p. 62.
57. The phenomenal Negro athlete: CDB, March 11, 1940.
58. I can’t see: CDB, March 12, 1940.
59. colder than Jackie Robinson’s: CDB, April 22, 1940.
60. the kind of a behind: CDB, April 29, 1940.
61. a long, sad afternoon: CDB, May 2, 1940.
62. provided he met: CDB, May 14, 1940.
63. “I Do Not Choose”: CDB, May 8, 1940.
64. He talked about this: Ray Bartlett, interview.
65. My father was sick: Rachel Robinson, interview.
66. He needed me: ibid.
67. She had nothing: ibid.
68. All my sorrows: ibid.
69. I remember: ibid.
70. I was the aggressor: ibid.
71. He was Zellee’s dream guy: ibid.
72. Rachel’s father didn’t like: David Falkner, Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson, from Baseball to Birmingham (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1995), p. 63.
73. Jack’s color would not: Rachel Robinson, interview.
74. Mallie was very gracious: ibid.
75. colossalness is almost: CDB, Aug. 9, 1940.
76. and went all the: CDB, Sept. 30, 1940.
77. a wild and woolly: CDB, Nov. 18, 1940.
78. A lot of it: Rachel Robinson, interview.
79. the greatest of all: Mann, p. 59.
80. viciously treated: CDB, Feb. 17, 1941.
81. long, weary basketball season: CDB, Feb. 25, 1941.
82. Robinson Fails to Make: CDB, March 4, 1941.
83. flagrant bit of prejudice: CDB, March 5, 1941.
84. I was aghast: Rachel Robinson, interview.
85. honorable dismissal: CDB, March 4, 1941.
86. very fine letter: John B. Jackson to JR, May 7, 1941, UCLA Archives.
87. I was indeed serious: JR to John B. Jackson, n.d., UCLA Archives.
CHAPTER 5
1. I had offers: Frank Waldman, Famous American Athletes of Today (Boston: L.C. Page, 1949), p. 244.
2. I could see no: I Never, p. 23.
3. that their free time: JR, Personnel Placement Questionnaire, U.S. War Department, Nov. 23, 1942, U.S. Army Records, JRP.
4. fortunate, indeed: Unidentified clipping, n.d., JRP.
5. something that I have: JR to John B. Jackson, n.d., UCLA Archives.
6. the biggest kid of all: WP, Aug. 25, 1949.
7. loved and appreciated: ibid.
8. it took one scrimmage: Carl T. Rowan with Jackie Robinson, Wait Till Next Year (N.Y.: Random House, 1960), p. 65.
9. a soft-spoken, dark-skinned: Rowan, p. 66.
10. The only time: PSN, Oct. 26, 1977.
11. The construction job: Ray Bartlett, interview.
12. Century Express: Misc. clipping, n.d., JRP.
13. See the Sensational: ibid.
14. When he found out: Ray Bartlett, interview.
15. Robinson, almost entirely: Frank Ardolino, “Jackie Robinson and the 1941 Honolulu Bears,” The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History 16 (1996), p. 70.
16. discrimination in the employment: John Morton Blum, V Was for Victory: Politics and American Culture During World War II (N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976), p. 188.
17. If Jack and his mother: Rachel Robinson, interview.
18. I wasn’t thinking: ibid.
19. Rae’s deep grief: I Never, p. 23.
20. My father’s death: Rachel Robinson, interview.
21. It’s a wonder: ibid.
22. Like all men: I Never, p. 24.
23. Personally, I would welcome: Daily Worker, March 23, 1942.
24. has been proven satisfactory: Lee Nichols, Breakthrough on the Color Front (N.Y.: Three Continents Press, rev. ed. 1993), p. 103.
25. There is a consensus: Jack D. Foner, Blacks and the Military in American History: A New Perspective (N.Y.: Praeger, 1974), p. 146.
26. on the score that: Foner, p. 140.
27. expert … excellent: JR’s U.S. Army Records, JRP.
28. The men in our: I Never, p. 24.
29. Leadership is not imbedded: Blum, p. 185.
30. I’ll break up: Rowan, Wait, p. 74.
31. Negro athletes such as: Ruth Danenhower Wilson, Jim Crow Joins Up: A Study of Negroes in the Armed Forces of the United States (N.Y.: William J. Clark, 1944), p. 7.
32. We gon do our part: Chris Mead, Champion: Joe Louis, Black Hero in White America (N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985), p. 218.
33. was the quickest fellow: Arthur Mann, The Jackie Robinson Story (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, 1951), p. 87.
34. one of the sharpest: JR, misc. speeches, n.d., JRP.
35. I got this telephone: Rachel Robinson, interview.
36. I’m sure if it: ibid.
37. stupid nigger: Mead, Joe Louis, p. 227.
38. Joe gave the general: Truman K. Gibson to author, interview, Feb. 25, 1996.
39. at Fort Riley: Wilson, p. 27.
40. I was at headquarters: Jack Gordon, interview.
41. I had come to realize: Rachel Robinson, interview.
42. Jack began: ibid.
43. Tell her to either: ibid.
44. Do you have a sable: ibid.
45. One day we were: Peter Golenbock, Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1984), p. 152.
46. because we know of: William J. Neal to Commanding Officer, 372nd Infantry, Camp Breckenridge, KY, October 12, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
47. had lost confidence: Foner, p. 159.
48. Lieutenant, let me: I Never, p. 26.
49. made it quite clear: I Never, pp. 28–29.
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50. arthritis, chronic: JR, Army Records, JRP.
51. physically disqualified: ibid.
52. I shook with rage: I Never, p. 25.
53. I told him I was: Rachel Robinson, interview.
54. Stubbornly I vowed: I Never, p. 25.
55. “New” Gonorrhoea, Acute: JR, Army Records, JRP.
56. Seek, Strike: Odie B. Faulk and Laura E. Faulk, Fort Hood: The First Fifty Years (Temple, Tex.: Frank W. Mayborn Foundation, 1990), p. 69.
57. Segregation there: Mary Penick Motley, ed., The Invisible Soldier: The Experience of the Black Soldier, World War II (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1975), p. 328.
58. One day Jackie was: Motley, p. 163.
59. Our boots were shined: David Falkner, Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson (N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1995), pp. 73–74.
60. Men, I know nothing: WP, Aug. 25, 1949.
61. He was kind of: Falkner, p. 75.
62. who tended to pick: ibid.
63. in very high regard: JR, Transcript of Court Martial, August 2, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
64. I said I’d be: ibid.
65. to determine the physical: Army Records, May 25, 1944, JRP.
66. type of duty: Lt. Robert W. Gilmore to Commanding Officer, Camp Hood, June 21, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
67. a bony mass: ibid.
68. fit for limited: Proceedings of Meeting of Disposition Board, June 26, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
69. I said that’s all: The complete record of Robinson’s court-martial trial, August 2, 1944, including a transcript of the trial and a copy of all depositions, are in U.S. Army Records, JRP.
70. This is a very: “Summary of Telephone Conversation,” Colonel E. A. Kimball, Commander of the 5th Armored Group, to Colonel Walter D. Buie, Chief of Staff of the XXIII Corps, July 17, 1944, Army Records, JRP.
71. seeking your help: JR to NAACP, July 24, 1944, NAACPR, LC.
72. We will be unable: Edward R. Dudley to JR, Aug. 3, 1944, NAACPR, LC.
73. this incident is only: Anon. to NAACP, July 20, 1944, NAACPR, LC.
74. that God would take: Rachel Robinson, interview.
75. The accused stated: Army Records, JRP.
76. told me the NAACP: Hal Davis, “The Court-Martial of Lt. Jackie Robinson,” National Law Journal, Sept. 19, 1994: A12.
77. a young Michigan officer: I Never, p. 34.
78. behaving with disrespect: Trial transcript, JRP. All quotations here are from the transcript, unless otherwise noted.
79. The provost marshal didn’t: Davis, p. A12.
80. He was handcuffed: David J. Williams, Hit Hard (N.Y.: Bantam, 1983), pp. 126–127.
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