Jackie+Robinson

[]

Primary Sources []

[]

[]

[]

Step One: Analysis of Jackie Robinson's Letter
Read definitions of primary and secondary sources in __ [|Using Primary Sources] __ and answer the following: > Read and analyze the letter, recording your thoughts on the __ [|Primary Source Analysis Tool] __.
 * What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source?
 * Give two familiar examples of each type of source.
 * 


 * 1) Read the Special Presentation, __ [|Baseball, the Color Line, and Jackie Robinson] __
 * 2) Read __ [|Jackie Robinson's 1950 letter to Branch Rickey] __, and then the __ [|transcription] __of the letter.
 * In which form do you prefer reading the document? Is one form or the other more meaningful to you? Why?
 * Why do you think it was difficult for Robinson to write this letter to Rickey?
 * Why was Rickey's leaving Brooklyn harder on Robinson that on everyone else?
 * What did Robinson mean when he wrote "Baseball is like that"?
 * What "small part" did Robinson play in contributing to Rickey's success in Brooklyn?
 * In your opinion, to what "misunderstanding" was Robinson referring?

Step Two: Analysis of Branch Rickey's Speech
Analyze the speech, recording your thoughts on the __ [|Primary Source Analysis Tool] __.

>> >> // America is,--it's been proven Jackie,--is more interested in the grace of a man's swing, in the dexterity of his cutting a base, and his speed afoot, in his scientific body control, in his excellence as a competitor on the field,--America, wide and broad, and in Atlanta, and in Georgia, will become instantly more interested in those marvelous, beautiful qualities than they are in the pigmentation of a man's skin. //
 * 1) Read __ [|Branch Rickey's speech to the "100-Percent Wrong Club."] __
 * 2) Analyze the speech, recording their thoughts on the __ [|Primary Source Analysis Tool] __. Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher’s guide __ [|Analyzing Primary Sources] __ to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.
 * In the fourth paragraph of his speech, Rickey seems to be saying that he desired to bring a black player to the St. Louis ballclub. Why did this effort fail?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">According to Rickey, what were the four factors that were necessary for him to bring a black player to the major leagues successfully?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Rickey stated that "the greatest danger, the greatest hazard, I felt was the negro race itself. " What did he mean by that?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Rickey stated that, according to the historian Frank Tannenbaum, four things were necessary for the acceptance of black players in baseball. What were those four factors?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">When Rickey stated, "I am completely color-blind," do you take him at his word?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you think that the following statement made by Branch Rickey was true in 1956?
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">What did Rickey mean when he referred to "the last syllable in a man's name"?