Jackie Robinson was not the first African American to play in the majors, but he was the first acknowledged person of color to play in the modern era. Robinson was a young and rising star for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues when Brooklyn Dodgers general manager selected him as the first Black player on his roster. Robinson played in the minors before making his first appearance for the Brooklyn Dodgers and his success opened the way for other African Americans. Robinson led his team to multiple World Series before retiring with a lifetime batting average of.311.

This bust of Robinson was dedicated in 1981

Two plaques can be found near the bust of Robinson and the entrance to the center

In 1936, this park was one of ten selected for the first public pools in the city. 

Information about the park and recreation opportunities 

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This New York recreation center dates back to a Harlem playground that was established in 1911 and known as Colonial Park. The playground expanded significantly in the 1930s thanks to funding from the Works Progress Administration and this park was one of ten New York parks selected by the city for a public pool. The pool opened in 1936 and the park includes basketball and volleyball courts as well as two baseball diamonds and a gym, library, and community room. In 1978, the city renamed the center in honor of Jackie Robinson, the city's most famous athlete. A bust of Robinson was dedicated on November 10, 1981. The bust was created by artist Inge Hardison and dedicated by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs' Community Arts. 

Jackie Robinson Recreation Center

This trail will look at the lives of five historical sports figures

A Heritage Trail of Sport Pioneers

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Among the fellow Hall of Famers Robinson beat are Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Gene Fullmer and Fritzie Zivic. Robinson was so efficient for so long that he won his first Fighter of the Year award in 1942 and his second in 1951. Robinson, whose real name was Walker Smith, turned pro in 1940 and won his first 40 fights before losing to LaMotta. After that defeat, Robinson wouldn't lose for another eight years. In 1942, he decisioned former champion Zivic and future champion Marty Servo. Then in 1946, in his 76th fight, he decisioned Tommy Bell for the vacant welterweight. During his reign as a welterweight, Robinson defended his crown with wins over Jimmy Doyle, Chuck Taylor, Bernard Docusen, Gavilan, and Charlie Fusari. In 1951, he challenged LaMotta for the middleweight title in a fight that is remebered as the St. Valentine Day Massacre. Robinson overwhelmed LaMotta with a speed and power and finally stopped him in the 13th round. It was the sixth and final time the Hall of Famers met. Robinson won five of those contests. In 1951, he was upset by British champion Randy Turpin. In the rematch two months later, Robinson knocked Turpin out in the 10th round. He followed with successful defenses against Graziano and Carl "Bobo" Olson before challenging light heavyweight king Joey Maxim. Robinson and Maxim met at Yankee Stadium in the summer of 1952. The temperature in the ring that night was estimated at 100 degrees. It was the heat, and not Maxim, that overcame Sugar Ray. After the 13th round, he led on all three scorecards but remained on his stool when the bell sounded to begin the 14th. Robinson retired after the Maxim fight only to return in 1955. He would win and lose the middleweight title three more times in a series of bouts with Olson, Fullmer and Basillio. He finally retired for good in 1965 at the age of 44. Of Robinson's 19 career defeats, 16 occurred after 1955. Five of them came in his final 15 fights. He fought 18 world champions during his career.

In a career that spanned three decades, Sugar Ray Robinson embodied the essence of the sweet science. He was a world welterweight champion and held the middleweight title five times. Robinson combined an athlete's grace and excellent power and was nearly unbeatable in his prime. He is considered by many to be the best fighter in history, pound-for-pound. He earned the nickname "Sugar" Ray when a newspaper reporter described him as "sweet as sugar."

Robinson was inducted into the International Boxing & World Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1990. 
The IBHOF located in Canastota, NY & the WBHOF located in Riverside, CA  


Sugar Ray Robinsons' International Boxing Hall Of Fame Profile 

After receiving his M.A. in 1966, Edwards took a temporary leave from Cornell to teach at San Jose State University as a visiting professor. Due to his negative experiences as a student athlete on predominately white university campuses, Edwards became heavily involved in exposing the relationship between race and sports in society. In 1967, Edwards and Kenneth Noel’s formed the organization: United Black Students for Action (UBSA). This organizations presence led to the cancellation of San Jose State University’s opening football game with the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967, the first major college in the U.S. to cancel an athletic event under the threat of racial protest. In 1968, with the success of UBSA, it transformed itself into the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR), an organization designed for the specific purpose of boycotting the 1968 Summer Olympics. Edwards was the lead organizer and public face for the OPHR. Despite much public criticism, personal threats and constant FBI surveillance, Edwards and the OPHR led a successful boycott of the New York Athletic Club Indoor Track Classic. OPHR also led anti-apartheid protests that prevented South Africa being reinstated into the Olympic Games. On the morning of October 16, 1968, US athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 meter race with a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the US's John Carlos won third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing Black socks, to represent Black poverty. Smith wore a Black scarf around his neck to represent Black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue-collar workers in the US and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's former White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged Black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968 were inspired by Edwards' arguments. Both US athletes intended to bring Black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was Peter Norman who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove. For this reason, Carlos raised his left hand as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute. When The Star-Spangled Banner played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front-page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd. Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a Black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are Black and we are proud of being Black. Black America will understand what we did tonight." In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22-foot high statue of their protest, created by artist Ricardo Gouveia. The statue is located in the central part of the campus, next to Robert D. Clark Hall and Tower Hall. A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project: "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and yet, they had never been honored by their own school."

Sociology professor and Civil Rights Activist Dr. Harry Edwards was born November 22, 1942, in East St Louis, Illinois. Edwards grew up in a household that saw his mother abandon him and his seven siblings. Edwards' father worked as a laborer. He attended the newly integrated East St. Louis Senior High School where he excelled in sports. After graduating from high school in 1960, Edwards moved to California where he attended Fresno City College. Edwards would go on to become a scholarship athlete and an outstanding student, earning a Bachelor's degree in sociology and graduated summa cum laude from San Jose State College in 1964. In 1966, Edwards went on to receive his Masters’ degree in sociology from Cornell University where he was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. In 1973, he received his Ph.D. degree in sociology from Cornell University where he helped to found United Black Students for Action and the Olympic Project for Human Rights. From 1967 to 1969, he was an instructor of sociology at San Jose State College, and an Assistant Professor and then Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1970 until his retirement from the school in the year 2002. 


Dr. Harry Edwards: Olympic Project for Human Rights & the 1968 Olympics Black Power Statue

Jim Brown became the first player to win both the MVP award and the Rookie of the Year award in the same season in the National Football League. The field honors Brown, a local resident who became an NFL legend after graduating from Manhasset High School in the 1950s. Brown's skill in various sports makes his name on the multipurpose field even more appropriate. He lettered in four sports during his college career, football, basketball, lacrosse, and track. During his extensive athletic career Brown wa,s nominated into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Hall of Fame, and the Lacrosse Hall of fame for his athletic achievements. He holds several NFL records as well as several MVP titles in addition to his historic season as rookie of the year.

In April of 2013, Manhasset Valley Park named its new multipurpose field after Jim Brown, legendary Hall of Fame football player and a pioneer in integrating college and professional football in the modern era of the NFL. Brown had several "firsts" in NFL history. Brown was a teammate of Ernie Davis at Syracuse and has been called by some, "the greatest all-around athlete" of Syracuse University. He played several sports during his collegiate career but is best-known today for confronting racism and charting a path for other African American players. 

A Heritage Trail of Sport Pioneers

Jackie Robinson Recreation Center

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information