Celebrate Jackie Robinson's Legacy in Los Angeles

Baseball legend Jackie Robinson played his entire MLB career for the Brooklyn Dodgers, retiring the year before the team’s 1958 move to LA. Still, we Angelenos like to claim him as our own, because Robinson - the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era - spent his formative years right here in Los Angeles.

Raised in Pasadena from age 1, Robinson attended John Muir High School, Pasadena Junior College, and UCLA. It was only after his military service during World War II that Robinson left LA to pursue what would become a storied sports career.

Each year, Jackie Robinson Day is celebrated on April 15, commemorating the date in 1947 when Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers ended decades of racial segregation in baseball. From Jackie Robinson Day events, to landmarks, public art and more, read on for ways that you can honor this iconic figure in Los Angeles.

There’s surely no better way to honor Jackie Robinson on a regular basis than attending a Los Angeles Dodgers game. While Robinson’s Dodgers were more than six decades ago and 3,000 miles away, the LA incarnation honors the six-time All-Star with a statue (see below), and in 2011 wore the uniforms of the bygone Brooklyn team in acknowledgement of its lineage.

The Dodgers will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on Monday, April 15 when the Boys in Blue host the Washington Nationals. The giveaway will be a Jackie Robinson hat. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm.

No. 42
Of course, the most appropriate day to celebrate Robinson is his eponymous day on April 15, when all MLB players, coaches and managers don Robinson’s iconic No. 42. In 1997, MLB retired his number across all major league teams - Robinson was the first pro athlete in any sport to receive that honor. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s historic shattering of the color barrier, all of those 42s were in Dodger Blue for the first time ever in 2022.

At Dodger Stadium's Top of the Park (Top Deck), fans can pose with a five-foot "42" in the Retired Numbers Plaza, along with other numbers like Sandy Koufax's No. 32, Roy Campanella's No. 39, and microphones dedicated to legendary sportscasters Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín.

Stop by the Top of the Park Store to shop official Dodgers merch, including one of the largest cap walls in the nation and numerous exclusives featuring No. 42. The Top of the Park Store is open daily from 10am-5pm and during all games.

JACKIE ROBINSON STATUE
When you're at Dodger Stadium, be sure to pay your respects at the eight-foot bronze statue of Jackie Robinson sculpted by Branly Cadet. Unveiled in 2017 with Robinson’s wife and children present, the stunning sculpture was erected to mark the 70th anniversary of his breaking of the color barrier. Originally located on the Reserve Level along the left field line, the statue has since been moved to the stadium entrance at Centerfield Plaza.

The first of its kind at Dodger Stadium, the 800-pound monument depicts Robinson stealing home during his rookie season. The statue was joined in June 2022 by an adjacent Cadet creation honoring Robinson's fellow Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.

DODGER STADIUM TOURS
Jackie Robinson won the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier, the award was renamed in his honor in 1987. Fans can get up close to Robinson's 1949 National League MVP Award, along with the Dodgers' World Series trophies, Cy Young Awards, Gold Gloves and much more during a Dodger Stadium Tour. The 75-minute tours start every hour on the hour beginning at 10am, with the last tour starting at 1pm on game days and 3pm on non-game days.

The 90-minute Jackie Robinson Tour includes most of what guests see on the Stadium Tour, but also includes new stories revolving around Robinson and those that helped him along the way.

Robinson was a standout student-athlete at UCLA from 1939-1941. He was the first Bruin to earn varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. Ironically, baseball was statistically his weakest sport while at college!

Located off-campus, Jackie Robinson Stadium (100 Constitution Ave, Los Angeles 90049) is the home field of the Bruins and was made possible by a private gift from one of Robinson’s UCLA classmates, the late construction magnate Hoyt Pardee.

Opened in 1981, the 1,838-seat facility features a statue of a kneeling Robinson along its first base line, with a plaque that reads simply: “The Name. The Legend. The Man.” An adjacent mural by artist Mike Sullivan depicts Robinson in his UCLA uniform, with references to both his playing days and military service.

As a UCLA Bruin, Jackie Robinson competed at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which added Robinson to the Memorial Court of Honor in 2005. Located in the Coliseum's famed Peristyle, the Court of Honor features dozens of plaques that commemorate individuals and events that have made an impact on the Coliseum.

Opened in June 1923, the Coliseum is the largest football stadium in the Pac-12 conference and is the home field of the USC Trojans. The Coliseum is the first stadium in history to host the Summer Olympics twice (1932 and 1984) and will host the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in 2028. The stadium has hosted decades of historic sports events, including the 1959 World Series (the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2), Super Bowl I (1967) and Super Bowl VII (the 1973 Miami Dolphins perfect season). On March 29, 2008, the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox set a Guinness World Record for the largest attendance ever at a baseball game with a crowd of 115,300.

Pasadena features enough Jackie Robinson landmarks and tributes to justify an entire themed sightseeing tour of the community in which he grew up.

The City of Pasadena has recognized one of its most famous sons with Jackie Robinson Field, a baseball diamond and stadium in Brookside Park; and the Jackie Robinson Community Center, a community outreach facility providing health services.

Located across from City Hall, the Pasadena Robinson Memorial (95 N. Garfield Ave.) features 10-foot bronze busts of Jackie and his similarly athletic brother Mack, who famously won the silver medal in the 200-meter sprint behind Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

A statue at Rose Bowl Stadium depicts Robinson in his football days at what was then Pasadena Junior College (now Pasadena City College). Additionally, a number of PCC facilities are named in his honor, including Robinson Stadium, jointly named for Jackie and Mack.

JACKIE ROBINSON'S CHILDHOOD HOME
Robinson was born into a family of Georgia sharecroppers in 1919. The following year the family moved to Pasadena - his extended family eventually settled on a shared plot comprising two small houses at 123 Pepper Street. The Robinsons endured relative poverty amidst an otherwise affluent neighborhood, but it was here that the young Jackie, under the tutelage of his older brothers, began to hone the athletic talents that would later make him famous.

Robinson’s home was demolished in 1977 and replaced with a three-bedroom stucco bungalow. A small plaque affixed to the contemporary house reads, "Jackie Robinson resided on this site with his family from 1922 to 1946."

JACKIE ROBINSON MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
Official endorsement of Robinson’s LA status came in August 2016, when the California State Assembly voted unanimously to name a stretch of the 210 Freeway in his honor. The Legislature christened the 4.2 miles between Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena and Gould Avenue in La Cañada Flintridge the "Jackie Robinson Memorial Highway." The Pasadena portion - located just north of the junction with the 134 Freeway - runs close to Robinson’s childhood home. A press release at the time from the office of Assemblyman Mike Gatto noted that the chosen length of freeway is frequented by fans on their way to Dodger Stadium.

Robinson’s enduring influence extends to the outer reaches of Los Angeles County. Jackie Robinson Park (8773 E Avenue R, Littlerock 93543) is located in the unincorporated High Desert community of Littlerock, some 55 miles north of Downtown LA. Dedicated in 1965 with the great man himself in attendance, the nine-acre space is a green-grass oasis amid a sea of desert beige. With the Women’s Club of Sun Village as one of its driving forces, the facility boasts basketball courts, picnic shelters, weight rooms, and of course, a lighted baseball diamond. Hosting everything from dance and theatre to after school programs, Jackie Robinson Park is an invaluable resource for Littlerock’s 1,400 residents and its surrounding rural communities.

After retiring from baseball at age 37, Robinson threw himself into the business world. As vice president for personnel at Chock full o’ Nuts from 1957 to 1964, he was the first Black vice president of a major American corporation. In 1964, he helped to establish Freedom National Bank (a Black-owned and operated bank based in Harlem, New York), and later founded the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build homes for low-income families. Robinson considered his business career as advancing the cause of Black people in industry and commerce.

Drop by the flagship location of Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in Inglewood, which epitomizes Robinson’s passion for community-serving, Black-owned and operated businesses, while also tying into his own stint in the coffee business.