WASHINGTON — As Major League Baseball gears up to honor Jackie Robinson on the 75th anniversary of his color-barrier-breaking debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, one beacon of African American history is honoring the trailblazing Hall of Famer in its own way.
For the month of April, the National Museum of African American History and Culture will display Robinson’s jersey in a gallery within the third floor “Sports: Leveling the Playing Field” exhibit. The jersey, on loan from a private collection, is one of an estimated five remaining game-worn Robinson jerseys. A beautifully preserved artifact, the jersey is from the 1951 season, the classic road white fabric with Dodger blue lettering and numbers.
Along with the temporary installation housing the jersey, part of the museum’s permanent collection includes a life-size statue of Robinson and a section on Robinson and his contributions to sports and the Black community, which features another of Robinson’s jersey and a game-used bat. There is also a section on African Americans in baseball, featuring a Hank Aaron jersey.
For the museum, which highlights the historical and cultural impact the Black community has had on the United States, Robinson embodied the hopes and dreams of African Americans and served as a symbol for all that could be accomplished once the door was opened and Black Americans were given the opportunity to compete on equal terms — in any field, not just sports.
“Robinson had…
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