When Jackie Robinson began his rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, he became the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the twentieth century, effectively breaking down the color barrier that had been in existence since 1876.
This module examines the circumstances surrounding Jackie Robinson's signing by the Dodgers, his subsequent baseball career, and how both his life and career helped create the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The primary and secondary sources presented include photographs, newspaper reports, interviews, and biographies.
