America's Archives
Stories of our
country's historic documents—and how things that may have once
seemed rather ordinary can turn out to be national treasures.
Often, such documents are first generally found in private
hands—perhaps in an attic or old album. Many times, they are
purchased by people like us—who then purvey them to the collector. |
Letter from Jackie Robinson to President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, May 13, 1958
On April 10, 1947, Jack Roosevelt Robinson broke the color barrier
in major league baseball— as Branch Rickey, president of the
Brooklyn Dodgers, announced that Robinson had signed with his
team. As the first African American to play in the major leagues,
Jackie Robinson became the target of vicious racial abuse.
Recalling his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in his
autobiography, Robinson described how he played the best baseball
he could as torrents of abuse were heaped upon him, and the entire
nation focused its attention on his game. Having established a
"reputation as a black man who never tolerated affronts to his
dignity," he now found it in himself to resist the urge to
strike back. In the ballpark, he answered the people he called
"haters" with the perfect eloquence of a base hit. In 1949, his
best year, Robinson was named the league’s Most Valuable Player,
and in 1962 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He
retired from the major leagues in 1956.
As our national pastime enters a very critical
period of contention following the recent expiration of the
agreement between the owners and the players, we thought this
document from a man who rose above differences to go on to
greatness might prove of interest to our readers.
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Robinson responded
to Presidential civil rights comments amid continuing controversy
over school desegration efforts in Little Rock, AR, and the South.
In September 1957, Governor Orval Faubus had ordered the Arkansas
National Guard to prevent entry of nine African American students
into that city’s Central High School. President Eisenhower
reluctantly sent U.S. troops to enforce the school’s integration.
From his position as a prominent executive of the Chock Full
o’Nuts Corporation, Robinson continued his advocacy of social
justice. (National Archives and Records Administration, Dwight D.
Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS)
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Fred Schmitt's
PERSPECTIVE
(Continued...)
In fact, Roosevelt—long before his presidency—had joined the
American Philatelic Society when he was governor of New York in
1929. His love of stamp collecting was lifelong, having started
when he was a lad of eight. And all during his presidency his
hobby not only went with him on his far-flung travels, but
involved his daily life when he approved every stamp the U.S.
issued during his 12 years inoffice.
Roosevelt correspondence still held in private
hands, whether envelopes (called "covers" by the philatelist) or
letters, is extremely scarce. Most such documents are now in
museums or libraries (like the FDR Library in Hyde Park, NY).
Even rarer is the Roosevelt cover that pertains
to his stamp collecting hobby. The unusual cover shown here was
not only sent as "insured parcel post" to a stamp dealer in the
United Kingdom, the customs tag is still attached. The envelope is
official presidential stationery with "The White House" imprint at
the upper left.
Aside from its rarity, the delightful aspect of this cover is
that it's ample proof that FDR did, in fact, pursue his favorite
hobby all during the wartime years. |
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