Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, on a plantation near Cairo, Georgia, where his grandparents had worked under slavery.
His parents, Mallie and Jerry, were sharecroppers. They farmed land owned by someone else, and they kept a small share of the crops.
Soon after Jackie’s birth, his parents split up. In search of a better life, Mallie took Jackie and his four older siblings to Pasadena, California. Several of Mallie’s relatives also made the move. Jackie grew up surrounded by a loving extended family, but they lived in a predominantly white community that did not welcome its small African American population.
