Students Again

Historical Research Homework

 

Research Plan of Action (RPA)

 

I. & II. Proposed Weekly Schedule of Research/Writing

 

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8:00a.m.	Work		Work		Work	Write Addition to Paper Based on New Information (During Day or Night Depending on Schedule and Demands of other Classes)	Revise and Create New Drafts as Necessary (During Day or Night Depending on Schedule and Demands of other Classes)
9:00a.m.
10:00a.m.
11:00a.m.		School		School
Noon
1:00p.m.
2:00p.m.
3:00p.m.
4:00p.m.
5:00p.m.
6:00p.m. to 11:00p.m.		Research for New Sources of Information Pertinent to my Topic		Analyze New Sources

 

III. Working List of Secondary Sources

 

Secondary Sources I Already Have:

Finn, Robin. “A Career Devoted to the Legacy of Jackie Robinson,” New York Times, 17 November 2006. B4.

 

Rampersad, Arnold. Jackie Robinson: A Biography. New York: Alfed A. Knopf, 1997.

Simon, Scott. Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.

 

Stanley Edgar Hyman, “The Other Jackie Robinson.” New Leader 80, no. 7 (1997): 8-9.

 

Swaine, Rick. The Black Stars Who Made Baseball Whole. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006.

 

Secondary Sources I Hope to Find:

 

1) I hope to find more specific information regarding Jackie Robinson’s role in politics. This would include information regarding any support or campaigning work he did for any particular candidates. I would like to find any articles that would explain the perception of other people regarding Robinson’s involvement. What did people who recognized Robinson’s involvement think about his involvement?

2) I hope to find more specific information regarding Jackie Robinson’s role in the fight for civil rights. This would include information about the positions he held (such as Chairman of the NAACP) and any particular things he did (such as speeches). I would like to find any books or articles debating Robinson’s role as a civil rights activists. Did people think he helped or hurt the cause in regards to his civil rights endeavors beyond being the first African American in baseball?

3) I hope to find more information regarding Jackie Robinson’s business endeavors. This would include information of any positions Robinson held within a company and any business he owned and the underlying motive for these endeavors if there was one. What was the businesses mission? What did Robinson do? Were there any extraordinary circumstances that showed Robinson going above and beyond his job description in an effort to help people? Are there any newspaper accounts of Robinson’s business endeavors helping anyone? What was the public saying about these endeavors?

4) I hope to find more information on the charitable work and the legacy of Jackie Robinson. What organizations did Robinson found during his life? What organization thrived after his death? What organizations were founded after his death that bear his name and continue his work? What are people who benefited from these organizations saying about Robinson?

 

IV. Working List of Primary Sources

Primary Sources I Already Have:

Duckett, Alfred. I Never Had It Made. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1972.

Kennedy, John F. Letter to Jackie Robinson. 1 July 1960.

 

Robinson, Rachel. Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996.

 

Robinson, Sharon. Stealing Home: An Intimate Family Portrait by the Daughter of Jackie Robinson. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

 

Robinson, Jackie. Letter to Dwight Eisenhower. 13 May 1958.

 

Robinson, Jackie. Letter to Richard M. Nixon. March 1957.

 

U.S. Congress. House Un-American Activities Committee. “Testimony of Jackie Robinson 18 July 1949.”

 

Wilkins, Roy. Letter to Jackie Robinson. 8 January 1958.

 

Primary Sources I Hope to Find:

1) I hope to find more specific information regarding Jackie Robinson’s role in politics. This would include information regarding any support or campaigning work he did for any particular candidates. I would like to find audio, video, or written evidence (letters to/from Robinson and/or the candidate) to support and explain how involved, and the extent of his involvement in politics that would be very helpful.

2) I hope to find more specific information regarding Jackie Robinson’s role in the fight for civil rights. This would include information about the positions he held (such as Chairman of the NAACP) and any particular things he did (such as speeches). I would like to find audio of any of the speeches he made during his speaking tours to give further incite into his thoughts and ideas on the subject. I would also like to find photographic evidence of his physical involvement. For example, photos of Robinson on a picket live, participating in a sit-in, or doing any other activity that is common to civil rights activists. I would like to know what his wife, Rachael, had to say about his involvement. Was she involved in any activist activities? I would like to find any articles or audio she produced on the subject.

3) I hope to find more information regarding Jackie Robinson’s business endeavors. This would include information of any positions Robinson held within a company and any business he owned and the underlying motive for these endeavors if there was one. What was the businesses mission? What did Robinson do? Were there any extraordinary circumstances that showed Robinson going above and beyond his job description in an effort to help people? If I could find any public records about any business Robinson may have owned or been involved with it could possibly help to answer some of these questions.

4) I hope to find more information on the charitable work and the legacy of Jackie Robinson. What organizations did Robinson found during his life? What organization thrived after his death? What organizations were founded after his death that bear his name and continue his work? I would like to find any information on the way donations are handled and what programs are financed by these organizations. I would like to get any written information that has been provided by people who work within one of these organizations.

 

V. Working Outline

 

I. Introduction

II. Robinson’s humble beginnings

A. Learning to stand up for himself

III. Pasadena Junior College

A. Using athletic clout to fight racial oppression

IV. University of California Las Angeles (UCLA)

V. Robinson in the Army

A. Admitting African American into Officers school (first time in Army history)

VI. Negro Leagues

A. Being prepped to be first African American in the major leagues

VII. Accepted to the major-leagues

A. Fighting racial discrimination on the way to spring training

VIII. Creating racial cohesion

IX. Testifying at the House Un-American Committee

X. Robinson’s desire to fight social injustice

XI. Robinson’s passion for charity

XII. Increasing interest in civil rights

XIII. Quitting baseball and working for Chock Full o’ Nuts

XIV. Life after baseball

XV. Political involvement

XVI. Civil rights involvement

XVII. Business involvement

XVIII. Charitable involvement.

XIX. Legacy

XX. Conclusion

 

 

Jackie Robinson: Historiography

 

Jackie Robinson has been the topic of historical study for many recent historians. The main focus of these historians has been the breaking of the color barrier in the game of baseball. No person can deny the significance of this achievement and how it paved the way for desegregated sports. However, since the focus of the historical study on Robinson has remained in the athletic realm; many other achievements have been under examined. Some of these under examined achievements outside of Robinson’s athletic achievements are arguably equal to the contribution to humanity that Robinson made within the realm of athletics.

 

Many historians research on Robinson follow similar patterns. The bulk of each published work entails Robinson athletic beginnings in high school through the end of his major-league baseball career in 1957. The remaining chapter or two lightly mention Robinson’s achievements after his baseball career and the legacy he left after his death in 1972. This is a great injustice to the historical study of Robinson. The proposed historical research is aimed at providing more depth to the under examined achievements after Robinson’s athletic career and the legacy he left behind. The achievement within this focus can be viewed in four categories: political support, civil rights achievements, business endeavors, and charitable/legacy causes.

 

Robinson was involved politically in many different ways. He supported Republicans and Democrats alike in search for candidates that he believed would best serve the pressing issues most important to him and the future of his children. Most of these issues were to address the concerns of the African American community, especially in the area of voting rights and poverty. He actively engaged politicians and used his celebrity to lend support to those he thought would make a difference, thus, indirectly making a difference himself through politics without actually become an elected official. For example, he supported campaigns for candidates such as Nelson Rockefeller, Hubert Humphrey, and Richard Nixon. He had constant correspondence with the White House and the current Presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Robinson was also a voice against Communism, even providing testimony in House Un-American Activities Committee.

 

After Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball it was natural for him to become active in the fight for civil rights in the South during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Robinson started out as a chairman for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later assisted the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Robinson did many things to help the fight from joining in on picket lines to raising money to doing speaking tours.

 

Robinson was involved in many business endeavors. All of these endeavors had two goals: to secure his families future and to help other people. He became the Vice President of the Chock Full o’ Nuts Coffee and Café Corporation.  This corporation had a significant presence in New York City and employed a majority of African Americans. Robinson viewed this job as having an opportunity at having an impact in the lives of every one of those employees. There are several instances of him personally helping employees in times of difficulty. He also helped to found the Freedom National Bank in Harlem. He believed that African Americans should have a bank of their own and access to fair lending practices. This bank became the largest African American owned and operated bank in the state of New York. He also formed the Jackie Robinson Construction Company with the purpose of building low to moderate income housing in New York City.

 

Robinson began his passion for charitable causes when he would visit sick children in hospitals. He started and left a number of organizations, programs, schools, parks, community centers, and other facilities that continue to bear his name. One example is the Jackie Robinson Foundation which is a charitable organization that strives to provide educational and leadership opportunities to children.

 

Jackie Robinson will always be remembered as the man who broke the color barrier in baseball. However, in studying the historical impact that Robinson had on humanity is incomplete if the main focus, or only focus, is on baseball. His efforts in political support, civil rights achievements, business endeavors, and charitable/legacy causes must also be fully examined.