“Rediscovering Jackie Robinson” Presentation Explores Baseball Legend's Legacy

Baseball legend Jackie Robinson is in the spotlight again, his uniform number, 42, displayed on the walls of spring training ballparks and on movie screens as the title of an upcoming film.
But Robinson was more than a six-time All-Star, MVP and Hall of Famer, and more than the player who broke baseball’s color barrier. “Rediscovering Jackie Robinson: A Hero Across Generations,” a March 7 presentation sponsored by New College of Florida and the Family Heritage House Museum, brings in national experts on Robinson to examine his life in a broader perspective.
“Many times it is easier to compartmentalize people in simple, single categories,” said Sarah Hernandez, associate professor of sociology at New College and organizer of the event. “This presentation will allow us to see Jackie Robinson as more than a baseball player and more than the symbol of desegregation in sports, and recognize his larger role in the struggles for human dignity.”
The speakers are:
• Prof. Stephen Butler of Earlham College, a specialist in sociology of education and sociology of sport, and a scholar and speaker on Robinson’s life and legacy. He also has served on the faculties of Wesleyan University and Sarah Lawrence College.
• Prof. Richard Zamoff, a sociologist at George Washington University (GWU) and Director of the university’s Jackie Robinson Project. He also is the faculty adviser to the Jackie and Rachel Robinson Society at George Washington University. He specializes in the sociology of education, program evaluation, and the relationship between sports and society. Since 2000, he has taught “Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream.”
• Dr. Barry Zamoff is the former associate director of research and statistics at the District of Columbia’s Office of Human Rights and a former professor of sociology at Howard University. He was instrumental in establishing the Jackie Robinson Project at GWU in 1996 and has been in charge of the Jackie Robinson Project’s educational initiative since 2010.
The program is at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 7, at the Family Heritage House Museum, on the campus of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, 5840 26th Street West, in Bradenton. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. For more information, call 752-5319.
“This is a time when the baseball season begins, and when we also bring to closure celebrations of African American History,” Hernandez said. “We are also in expectation of the movie ‘42’ about Jackie Robinson, which will premier April 12, and Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day on April 15. It is the right time to recognize Jackie Robinson’s legacy.”