Most of Howie’s readers and many of my friends do not know of the oldest and most heroic woman and widow in America. I am looking to change that.
Tomorrow is the 104th birthday of the great Rachel Robinson. Nursing professor, civil rights warrior, wife and mother of war veterans, mentor for nurses and nursing students, advocate for the under privileged, and baseball fan who regularly attends games and advocates for youngsters who want to play the game, but whose families cannot possibly afford the holdup of $400 and $500 for metal bats. And by the way, she is the widow of the great Jackie Robinson who passed away in 1972, 54 years ago.
Rachel never remarried.
What she did do was sit in the stands and support her husband who as you know broke the color barrier 7 years before Brown v Board ordered the integration of public schools.
In Brooklyn, Jackie was a hero. To Black America he carried the hopes and dreams of his people on his chances to endure and overcome the taunts and beanballs and spikes to succeed. In road games, segregated stands (especially in St, Louis, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia), Rachel was forced to listen to the same hatred and watch the way he was treated.
For every Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg and Pee Wee Reese and Ralph Branca that had his back, there were a dozen bigots who refused to talk or shower or shake his hand. And at night Rachel and Jackie were prevented from staying at the same hotel chains you now see advertised on TV.
The real Mrs Robinson turns 104 on July 19. She walks to her seat at the ballpark and provides scholarships to nursing students. Consider her story the next time you see parents acting like fools, criticizing the officials, and embarrassing their children on the field or court or ice.
And consider the stress and pressure to succeed that the Robinsons were under every day.
