Document for May 13th:
Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower; White House Central Files Box 731; File: OF-142-A-3; Dwight D. Eisenhower Library; National Archives and Records Administration

Jack Roosevelt Robinson (1919-72) was the first African American to "officially" play in Major League Baseball. When he retired from the game, Jackie Robinson went on to champion the cause of civil rights from his position as a prominent executive of the Chock Full o'Nuts Corporation.

Robinson had grown increasingly impatient with what he regarded as President Eisenhower's failure to act decisively in combating racism. In this letter dated May 13, 1958, he expresses his frustration and calls upon the President to finally guarantee Federal support of black civil rights.