Robinson Actively Working for Equal Rights Off the Field
At an NAACP rally in Wisconsin.
Jackie Robinson not only inspired others through his words and his ball playing, but also through his work as a civil rights activist. The Chase Hotel in St. Louis had always turned down blacks, and when the Dodgers traveled through St. Louis, the black players were housed at the all-black Adams Hotel while the white players enjoyed the comforts of the Chase Hotel. Robinson went up to the manager of the hotel, and confronted him about it. They were allowed in the hotel, but were assigned rooms in remote corners of the hotel, usually with little light and unsightly views; they were refused service at the nightclub and dining room, and as teammate Don Newcombe said, “when they finally did bring you a plate of food, you were never sure what they put in it.”[1] Robinson kept returning until the hotel's policy actually changed.
At same rally in Wisconsin.
After his baseball career ended, Robinson became one of six national directors for Nelson’s Rockefeller’s Republican presidential campaign and later became special assistant for community affairs when Rockefeller was re-elected governor of New York in 1966. In doing this, Robinson continued to serve New York by spreading his ideology through politics. Robinson also served on the board of the NAACP until 1967. In all of his direct acts for civil rights: the hotel incident, his service as a government official, and his position on the NAACP, he was trying to advance the position of blacks; and he definitely helped.
[1] Falkner, 235.
