This was recorded at the National Archives in washington in 2007. It is about one hour. I have the pleasure of introducing him to years ago, when he was discussing luckiest man, the life and death of lou gehrig. As he be introducing him discusses his book, opening day, the story of Jackie Robinsons i was thinking about the similarities in the two men that he has chronicled inir baseball and beyond, some respects, other aspects of their lives. Both men share these qualities,. Ourage, commitment, that commitment was not too plain excellence, but to , and a contribution to the larger society. The other quality they both had indeed was character. They both died young. Remembered as sports , and in both cases as spectacular as their baseball statistics were, there was a lot more to each man. Represented fabled new york teams, i guess mortal enemies and such is the transition in life that i started out the fan of one and later made the crossing to the other. Had an appreciation for the outstanding players on teams. Readexcerpts that i have from our authors book on Jackie Robinsons first season, its not just the usual account of first to get this, did then he did that on the field. For the larger contexts in which he operated. It is one of the things where so that mylike me, son once asked me if there was an alphabet when i was a kid. I remember socalled baseball it was just a. There were wonderful people on the field. There was no discussion of on the field. See how the discipline has matured over the years, that has evident that not so many years ago, there was a discussion or a journal article on Jackie Robinsons first season in which Jackie Robinsons all the accounts came from white newspapers. One of the thing that our author does so well is to talk about life beyond what the Privileged Society was like. If you think about it, many of you might not think about this, when jackie integrated the toeball field, he went back a small hotel. When the team traveled, there were places that he could not stay. Was almost completely segregated society. Linees breaking the color made for a considerable change and even people who did not like him so threatened by him by the , with respectson for a capable performer and a gentleman. Jonathans book is readable as attested to by his kids are in kids. , i one of the excerpts believe it was his son said, he liked the book even better than the first one because it was shorter. One could wantw the book to be shorter, has it is fascinating. As my son told me from the first day that he went to the first grade, and as a veteran of preschool and kindergarten so forth he said to me very seriously that first day, dad, they are not messing around anymore. Well we have an author who is not messing around and this is a real pleasure to introduce jonathan eig. Eig thank you very much for coming and thank you for that nice introduction. Error forcreate an the National Archives. Your program said i tried my hand into baseball before earning a degree in baseball journalism. I was what they called a four tool player, all my tools were broken. I had no glove, no stick. I could not run, couldnt throw. I turned it to writing at an early age. I recognized i would not make it on my athletic skills. There is a famous statue that many of you have probably seen in brooklyn, an eight foot bronze statue of Jackie Robinson. By his side is he week reese peewee reese. Cincinnati,tes Jackie Robinsons rookie season on the teams first road trip, he was being heckled so bruce lee by the crowd that his who had arees, considerable following in the crowd walked across the diamond and an adjuster of support and brotherhood put his arm around robinson and silenced the hostile crowd. It is considered one of the great moments in baseball history. There have been Childrens Books, poems movies. It was this moment i thought about two years ago when my lou gehrig book came out. I received a letter saying maybe you should write a book about ehe friendship between peewe and robinson. Was flattered if anyone in the audience has ideas for future books i am all ears. Out. Ont shout them i think there are some other writers in the room this afternoon. When i heard this idea i thought, its not bad, a little saccharine, perhaps. I thought it was worth looking into. Mean to did reese Jackie Robinson . When blackandwhite were so distrustful of each other as very few people were willing to welcome Jackie Robinson into the leak. What i found up immediately was that they embraced it the embrace did not happen in 1947. Jackie said he remembered a similar incident in 1948 or nine. Of theback through all Old Newspaper accounts, black and white papers from cincinnati and new york, looking for any mention of the incident and found no photographs and no mention. In fact, found that robinson , ine in his column that day his column he wrote that cincinnati fans were among the kindest fancy encountered yet. Even some of the white newspaper said that robinson was treated much better at cincinnati than other stops along the way. I talked to some fans that were that day andgame they dont remember anything like that happening. Black fans crowded out the white fans that day. Their impression was that they would not have dared to record if he didnt have the support, how did he get through this year which is own teammates sprinted to boycott and not to play. Satellite thought maybe thats my story. Could be whole story crystallize into 1947 season, and you can look at how he goes from a ballplayer just trying to get a chance and prove that he belongs, in an environment of his own teammates not to mention the opposition would like to see him gone, to leading his team to the pendant that season and presumably winning their hearts and their minds. Thats where i began. Dayoked at my calendar that and i realized it was the 60th anniversary of robinsons first game was coming up. One of the first things that i did was to begin reading histories of the era. Iowing up as a baseball fan, learned a lot about history as a kid from baseball. A lot of the people in the audience would say the same. These old baseball books, these biographies that were written for young readers. You would pick up little glimmers of history and reading them, you wouldnt even know you are getting the history. You would read about david ruth and you and learn about prohibition. People who enjoyed the 20s perhaps anyone else in , reading about Jackie Robinson of course you learned about jim crow and segregation. I was a baseball historian and my own right as a kid because i would keep my boxscores at every game and stick them in my desk drawers. Myd look at who might favorite players and how they did on that day. I learned to record history and appreciated it a little bit from baseball. 1947 i hado get it to understand the climate and the times we were in. Arthur injure wrote wrote injure wrote he about the same era, the grounds of our civilization of our server to our breaking up under our feet. Ii. Is just after world war the were is uncertain footing and we are beginning to wake up to the atrocities of the holocaust. We won this war but what does it mean for our democracy . We have achieved victory in europe now we need to fight for victory in our own country so the black people and in particular the black soldiers coming back from more will have some stake in the country. Time, people are unit for a sense of normalcy again. The whole country is in chaos. There are food shortages, truman is ordering rationing of me. People look at a spa, baseball baseball other7, joe dimaggio, and myths because they were in the service. Americans clung to baseball. In 1946, attendance broke records in every ballpark in the country. People were coming out and finding this offer them some solace. In 1947, Jackie Robinson comes along. Dont applyrules anymore. Everything went out the window. To understand that i began calling to the oldtimers, ballplayers who were still around. I asked my father, my dad lived in queens, what do you remember about that . He said i have a lot of great memories about that seasons, unfortunately i dont remember what they are. Other people had better memories. The oldtimers, that played with jackie that year. About howthe stories they were so eager to embrace Jackie Robinson. Told me opening day in 1947, april 15 he made a point of standing next to Jackie Robinson during the singing of the national anthem. He said after the game his whater teased cap and said are you doing standing next to him . What if a sniper got him and you are standing next to him. 1947,uth is on april 15, nobody would shake his hand in the clubhouse, there was no meeting called by the manager of the team. How much could i explore what he meant to us . One of the other things i did early on and as john mentioned, i went through the Old Newspaper clippings to see how things were covered. On that first day, april 15, 1947, this is a big day. We are seeing it celebrating it 60 years later. But in 1947, the white papers didnt mention his arrival. It was not mentioned at all. On on the front page, not the front page of the sports section but at the bottom of the story it was reported the dodgers beat the braves 53. It was carried in one of the columns that ran as a sidebar. The black meaty, on the other hand, have this story strip across the top of every page. Courier, andh others had pages of photos devoted to it. One reporter filed a story on where robinson sat during each , as that was important. The black press reported that. Was it just the rookies . His fellow outcasts, or where any of the teams leaders make a gesture of support in his direction. Sitting mostly with the other rookies. He was forced to face this battle on his own. The spring training of that season, it was not clear whether he would 15. At least six of his teammates came out and said they were willing to go public and refused to play with him. Robinson had to go or they have to go. Those players were mostly southerners, dixie walker, some memberwee reese was a of the rebellion but rees said he was not. I could not find evidence one way or another. The rebellion was quickly put down. Leo derosier was the manager at that time. He took no guff pity a meeting in the middle of an night in cuba and pulled the players out of their rooms, wearing his bright yellow bathrobe said, i dont care if this guy is black, yellow, green or a zebra. If he can play he can play on this team. There was no question of his authority. He asked each one of them, will you play or will you go. I talked to bobby reagan who was the third string catcher. He was willing to make this protest. Willing to risk his bigleague. Areer he said i would rather be traded. And he saidabout it i was a white so promise. He said i believe white was springs commerce supreme. If Jackie Robinson were allowed to cross that line, all my values would crumble. I could not go home. I could not go back to my family. My community would just trust me. This is what we were raised to believe. I have black family in my house, they entertained us, they cleaned our house. Treated as superior to me him in the starting lineup and i was not, i could not handle it. Day if rance ricky that he had to he would play. He backed down. This was a huge moment for the team. Choosingyers as such a their love for the sport over their prejudice. They are at least willing to live with this and see what happens. Was just all that he was hoping for. The president and heart owner of the dodgers, he wanted to integrate because he thought it was the right thing to do. He believed there was money to be made. He had the worst team in new york city, he sensed there was a possibility to be more competitive by bringing an black players, because it was an untapped talent pool. He could also pay them very little. He was a complex man. Doing the right thing and doing the cheap thing throughout his career. Totunately, his commitment bringing in jack your robinson was so great it helps us to overlook some of his ways. He decided on Jackie Robinson. We might ask why Jackie Robinson , he was not the best player in the new rowley, not by far in the negro league. He was a little bit older, 28, a very smart guy, he had gone to ucla, didnt graduate but a very smart guy. He was a tough guy. Told jackie that he robinson, are you Strong Enough to turn the other cheek. We have an image of Jackie Robinson as a pacifist. He was not at all. He was a ragefilled man all his life. Nothing made him angrier than being mistreated by white people. In 1944ourtmartialed for refusing to go to the back of the bus in the army and he beat the charge. Its saved his career. Ricky was guy who taking a chance with. Robinson was provoked and people would provoke him, and he responded in anger or if he went on a tirade and threw a fit, it might be the end. How many years that would set integration back. The important thing is that ricky wanted to send a tone of blacks heing was saying that we are going to send a message that black americans are here and they are part of baseball. This is a man you have to deal with. He was not someone to be trifled with. On the opening day. Mentioned the black newspapers covered it and the white ones did not. White fans did not show up at the game, but black fans did. Three quarters of the fans were africanamerican. White fans were staying away in huge numbers because they were afraid of what was going to happen. A lot of people felt like the strategy would backfire. Black newspapers were writing that it was up to africanamerican baseball fans to be on their best behavior and not make anything harder for Jackie Robinson than it already is. There were warnings from black press say, remember, dont drink , dont celebrate too much and dont embarrass Jackie Robinson too much. It was a communitywide effort. An error. Se on it turned out to be the winning run. I talked to one man who said George Washington didnt know it when he was making history. Abraham lincoln didnt know he was making history. I didnt know i was making history. Im the one that drove him in. I didnt know i was making history but i was. I said you drove in the fifth run, jack and robinson was the fourth. Again, i said he said i didnt know i was making history. Thet get them to change story after 60 years, its brutal. Realized that these ballplayers tended to embellish their memories are bit. I recognized there was one source i had to have. One person who could open this up. I wanted to show what he meant to america, but right then and there how he changed lives in the moment. I wanted to show what his personal journey was like, what he experienced. Was his wife, rachel robinson, who was 85 and lives in connecticut. I called up her office and asked for an appointment appointment. Finally i got 10 minutes on the phone with her. She answered a few questions. She gives a lot of interviews and i wasnt getting through to her. Finally asked her secretary to make an equipment form a i walked into the office and asked for an hour. Candy andher a box of some flowers. She comes in wearing this immaculate suit and sits down across from me and said, you have 20 minutes. She did not give me an inch. I consider myself a pretty good interviewer. Get peoplery hard to to warm up and you cannot do it in 20 minutes. , fearingry frustrated aok would have a whole whole in my heart. Found that i felt was interesting i went to the apartment where they live, they lived in a tiny apartment in brooklyn. They didnt even have an apartment. They rented a room. They had a fivemonthold baby. There were three People Living in this room, they didnt even have their own bathroom or kitchen. They shared it. They didnt like her very much, she had a boyfriend who was always hugging the living room so they couldnt even use the living room. Hese are horrible conditions i went to the apartment and picture the room where they stayed. On ebay and bought a pen they were selling a 1947 outside of the ball hard that said, im for Jackie Robinson. The unions were for played a huge part supporting Jackie Robinson. She warmed up to me slightly. A thirdr to agree to meeting and she said this is the last one. I showed up and just before i had gone i went to the New York Public Library and reach her rachel told me she couldnt remember the name of the woman she live within 19th or the seven, who had that apartment. And a reverseme telephone directory. Pulled outking and i a copy of the page from the phone directory, i put it on the desk it was mabel brown. Does she ring about . And she said yes god i hated that woman. Had our first really good interview. I began getting her to remember what they did at night, what kind of card games stood they play in their room and how jackie struggled to control her how he woulde, some days she would know to leave him alone and not ask any questions and on other days she would ask him detailed questions about the game. That way she could get him to open up and talk about his feelings. Was expressing his anger on the ball field. He was making himself effective in the white majorleagues, he was taking these take turns bases. The he was always a threat to steal a base. That rattled his opponents. It was his way to get back to his opponents. Said, he would come home and is some dinner and go for a walk, she said we didnt have any friends, we would she snapped out of this great that she had been an. In said i am not let me back there now. By then, it was too late. I had my foot in the door. As i was leaving the interview we had a nice long talk. Elevatedto me at the and she said there is one more thing i want to tell you, people dont realize how religious jackie was. We didnt have a church in brooklyn that year. Every night he would kneel by the side of the bed and right. Pray. I was so touched by this. I then given this insight, this view into their apartment. I felt like i had the heart of everok that nobody had told anyone four. The baseball stuff was great. That this was the piece of the puzzle that was missing. Baseball, after a rough april, robinson started to hit the ball. This is not a great dodger te