This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/7/2014
Jackie Robinson provides us with the essence of his character in this remarkable 26-word missive in which he succinctly ascribes his greatest baseball accomplishment:
“Dear Roger,
I believe my greatest accomplishment was my ability to accept the racial abuse I did early as it was certainly not my nature to do so.
Jackie”
When Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey explained to Robinson that he was looking for a black ballplayer who could ignore any racial antagonism that came his way, Robinson responded, “So you want a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” To which Rickey said, “No, I want a black ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back.” As Robinson notes in this letter, meek acquiescence was not in his nature. In fact, only a few years before he had been court-martialed after he refused to move to the back of an Army bus. Despite the hatred he was subjected to he proved himself worthy to have the guts Rickey was looking for, playing ten seasons and earning a place in baseball’s hall of fame. But Robinson’s accomplishments went well beyond baseball and served to make him both a transformative and an iconic figure in American history. Robinson was always a willing autograph signer, and often wrote notes and letters to his fans. Despite the abundance of written material we have encountered over the years we have never seen or heard of anything even remotely similar to this remarkable letter. It may not be long on words, but it could not be more compelling in content, and we are proud to offer it here as the most significant Jackie Robinson autographed letter we have ever seen.
Full LOA from PSA/DNA.