On January 31, 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on a plantation near Cairo, Georgia. His grandparents had worked there while they were enslaved.
His parents, Mallie and Jerry, were sharecroppers. They farmed land owned by someone else and kept a small share of the crops.
Jackie’s parents split up soon after he was born. Mallie took Jackie and his four older siblings to Pasadena, California, for a chance at a better life. Several of Mallie’s relatives came with them. Jackie grew up in the middle of a loving family. However, they lived in a mostly white area that didn’t welcome the few African Americans who moved in.
