Robinson After the Dodgers

Jackie Robinson with his son at the March on Washington August 28,1963

Jackie Robinson with his son at the March on Washington August 28,1963

After retiring from baseball in 1957, Robinson continued to play an active role in advocating for African-American equality. After a diabetes diagnosis, Robinson quit baseball and accepted a vice-presidential position with Chock-Full-O-Nuts. Robinson believed that African-American entrepreneurship and involvement in business was central to the equality movement. In fact, this idea would inform much of Robinson’s post baseball activity.

As Vice-President of Personnel, Robinson became the first African-American senior executive of a major American brand. He also worked with civil rights organizations to found the African-American owned Freedom National Bank and went on to found the Jackie Robinson Development Company, an organization that built low-income housing.

Robinson, a life-long Republican and fervent Nixon supporter also became an outspoken critic of politicians who slowed civil rights advancement, further signaling his lifelong commitment to activism and black entrepreneurship.

Rachel Robinson accepting the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her husband. March 2005

Rachel Robinson accepting the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of her husband. March 2005

Robinson died of a heart attack in 1972 at age 53, shortly after the untimely death of his eldest son, Jackie Robinson Jr.  After their deaths, Rachel Robinson, by then a professor at the Yale School of Nursing,  incorporated the Jackie Robinson Development Company and served as its president for 10 years. In continued dedication to her husband and his legacy,  she also founded The Jackie Robinson Foundation, a non-profit designed to provided minority students with educational and leadership opportunities.


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