Interview with Gwen Scott
Retired teacher who taught in Denver Public Schools and Denver University. She also wrote curriculum for African-American History class.
After Jackie Robinson retired from baseball; he became the first African-American to be a vice president of an American Company, which was Chock Full O’Nuts. How do you think his role of being the first African-American VP of an company in America, affected the civil rights of African-Americans compared to him being the first African-American MLB player?
"Well. As an corporate vice-president, this is a whole different level because most black people were not in business. When he’s able to be a vice-president of a large corporation, this allows him to have more power it allows him to bring in more black people to get into business. When he’s able to do a lot of heavy fundraising towards the NAACP, and also he, along with some others, organized a bank that would capitalize small businesses. Black businesses. That was very pivotal in his life to get that role, to get into the corporate world."
Do you know what Jackie Robinson was responsible for as a chairman for the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive?
"Yes, that’s where he raised a lot of money as a field secretary for that area. Because of his connection with the corporate world, he could bring in a lot of money. Contacts with others, he didn’t have."
What was the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive suppose to help support financially?
A: "The usual objective of the NAACP was to fight legal, to go to legal cases. When the NAACP needed money to pay lawyers and to go to court. They had to have that money. With all this money that Jackie Robinson was raising, this helped the NAACP to take on many cases. Some of them went to the Supreme Court."
You mentioned how Jackie Robinson helped open the Freedom National Bank and could you tell me what that had an effect on African-Americans?
"With most white banks, they would not fund black businesses, especially beginning businesses and so with this bank, they were able to acquire the capacity of funding to allow small businesses to start up for black people and to become a part of the economic system."
Jackie Robinson joined Martin Luther King Jr. later too, so what did they do together to fight for more civil rights?
"Jackie Robinson, he was in many of those marches with Martin Luther King and once again there was the adjunct of being able to bring in dollars out of his celebrity, where he went around, plus the fact, he, Jackie Robinson, was also an advocate for the civil rights who had connections, who had became very important source to lobby the presidents of the United States. He wrote letters and telegrams to all those presidents who were in office, during his lifetime. He was lobbying Eisenhower. During ‘57, there was a Civil Rights Bill of 1957, that Eisenhower was accepting from Congress and Jackie Robinson was telling him this was not a good bill, don’t sign it because it’s only a half of loaf. He would send telegrams and wrote letters to Eisenhower, course Eisenhower didn’t pay any attention and signed it anyway. Then, when Eisenhower was being less than forceful about civil rights, Jackie Robinson was urging him to be more of a catalyst for the rights of people and particularly black people at this time because of all the Jim Crow laws. Also, wrote letters and sent telegrams and talked to President Johnson because President Johnson his civil rights act was his signature piece of his administration, but before Johnson got to the voter’s rights part, Jackie Robinson really bugged Johnson about being more forceful about the voting rights."
In what other ways did Jackie Robinson affect not only sports, but the American Civil Rights movement?
A: "Part of it, he was also involved in promoting education, integrated education. Remember, this time the segregation, especially in the south was by law to not let blacks and whites to go to the same schools and also the schools that were under separate and not equal, the black schools were never equal they were always separate, but they were never equal. He was an advocate for trying to bring about desegregation about these schools."
How did Jackie Robinson influence the way America perceived African-Americans?
A: "I think for one thing, is that black folks decided that they had enough of waiting for white folks to do something for them. He comes out as a vanguard, saying we can also, as black people, go ahead and fight our own battles we don’t necessarily have to wait for white people to do our job for us. This is particularly impactful because those years he was playing ball, one of the agreements he had made with Branch Rickey, is that he would never speak out, he would just turn the other cheek. Once he stopped playing baseball, he’s free to go out and really be an advocate for civil rights, and be not only an advocate but an activist."
What aspects were challenges to overcome?
A: "It began a long time ago in his youth because he was born in Georgia and this was 1919, and because of Jim Crow, black people had no rights at all. So his mother left Georgia and went to California and so he was raised in California and do you know about the football part of his career? When he played for UCLA, he was a running back, the quarterback was black, his name was Kenny Washington and the wide receiver, they didn’t call it that at the time, but he was a receiver at the end who was Woody Strode and so these three black players were pivotal to the success of UCLA. So when it use to be with the Pac-10, the team that had the best record went to the Rose Bowl. So, UCLA and USC were tied, they had to play a game and trying to decide who was going to the Rose Bowl. Jackie Robinson because he and these other two black people on the UCLA team, even though it was a tie, they had a better statistical record than USC. The Rose Bowl people picked USC because they had no blacks on their team and besides USC would’ve had to play in the Rose Bowl, which they did, was a seven team, which was University of Alabama. So he had already met the stings of what it was to be denied because he was black."
What event that Jackie Robinson lead had the biggest impact on the civil rights movement?
"Even before he even gets into baseball, he was in the United States Army and he refused to sit back on the bus, and he was court marshaled so he stood up for his rights and so then the Army exonerated him so he was busy fighting for civil rights long before the civil rights movement really began."
Do you know any other examples that Jackie Robinson showed leadership?
"Well, his life just represents leadership and one of the things he said when he retired, from baseball, he said, my life now, is just beginning. Now I’m free to exercise my rights as a human being and to try to change this country, talking about the United States, by example and by activism. And he used his fame for that purpose and even money that he made, he contributed to the cause of civil rights. He set up foundations for young black children in the area of education and in the area of sports development."
What was it about Jackie Robinson that made him succeed where so many others had unable to bring African-American's their rights?
"Well, part of the reason he had, he had fame on his side. But even before he became famous, he also played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and he was beginning to get attention, well he was a great athlete even before he went to the Monarchs because he got his real fame in athletics, at UCLA. And he used his fame to parlay his zeal, to get black people to get on board to fight for their rights. There’s another thing too, he was very well educated, although I don’t think he got his degree at UCLA, but he did go through his junior year and this difference between the educational background that he had that made Branch Rickey select him over other black players who were coming along at the same time who probably had more talent than he did but because Jackie Robinson was so well educated and well spoken that Branch Rickey picked him out."
"Well. As an corporate vice-president, this is a whole different level because most black people were not in business. When he’s able to be a vice-president of a large corporation, this allows him to have more power it allows him to bring in more black people to get into business. When he’s able to do a lot of heavy fundraising towards the NAACP, and also he, along with some others, organized a bank that would capitalize small businesses. Black businesses. That was very pivotal in his life to get that role, to get into the corporate world."
Do you know what Jackie Robinson was responsible for as a chairman for the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive?
"Yes, that’s where he raised a lot of money as a field secretary for that area. Because of his connection with the corporate world, he could bring in a lot of money. Contacts with others, he didn’t have."
What was the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive suppose to help support financially?
A: "The usual objective of the NAACP was to fight legal, to go to legal cases. When the NAACP needed money to pay lawyers and to go to court. They had to have that money. With all this money that Jackie Robinson was raising, this helped the NAACP to take on many cases. Some of them went to the Supreme Court."
You mentioned how Jackie Robinson helped open the Freedom National Bank and could you tell me what that had an effect on African-Americans?
"With most white banks, they would not fund black businesses, especially beginning businesses and so with this bank, they were able to acquire the capacity of funding to allow small businesses to start up for black people and to become a part of the economic system."
Jackie Robinson joined Martin Luther King Jr. later too, so what did they do together to fight for more civil rights?
"Jackie Robinson, he was in many of those marches with Martin Luther King and once again there was the adjunct of being able to bring in dollars out of his celebrity, where he went around, plus the fact, he, Jackie Robinson, was also an advocate for the civil rights who had connections, who had became very important source to lobby the presidents of the United States. He wrote letters and telegrams to all those presidents who were in office, during his lifetime. He was lobbying Eisenhower. During ‘57, there was a Civil Rights Bill of 1957, that Eisenhower was accepting from Congress and Jackie Robinson was telling him this was not a good bill, don’t sign it because it’s only a half of loaf. He would send telegrams and wrote letters to Eisenhower, course Eisenhower didn’t pay any attention and signed it anyway. Then, when Eisenhower was being less than forceful about civil rights, Jackie Robinson was urging him to be more of a catalyst for the rights of people and particularly black people at this time because of all the Jim Crow laws. Also, wrote letters and sent telegrams and talked to President Johnson because President Johnson his civil rights act was his signature piece of his administration, but before Johnson got to the voter’s rights part, Jackie Robinson really bugged Johnson about being more forceful about the voting rights."
In what other ways did Jackie Robinson affect not only sports, but the American Civil Rights movement?
A: "Part of it, he was also involved in promoting education, integrated education. Remember, this time the segregation, especially in the south was by law to not let blacks and whites to go to the same schools and also the schools that were under separate and not equal, the black schools were never equal they were always separate, but they were never equal. He was an advocate for trying to bring about desegregation about these schools."
How did Jackie Robinson influence the way America perceived African-Americans?
A: "I think for one thing, is that black folks decided that they had enough of waiting for white folks to do something for them. He comes out as a vanguard, saying we can also, as black people, go ahead and fight our own battles we don’t necessarily have to wait for white people to do our job for us. This is particularly impactful because those years he was playing ball, one of the agreements he had made with Branch Rickey, is that he would never speak out, he would just turn the other cheek. Once he stopped playing baseball, he’s free to go out and really be an advocate for civil rights, and be not only an advocate but an activist."
What aspects were challenges to overcome?
A: "It began a long time ago in his youth because he was born in Georgia and this was 1919, and because of Jim Crow, black people had no rights at all. So his mother left Georgia and went to California and so he was raised in California and do you know about the football part of his career? When he played for UCLA, he was a running back, the quarterback was black, his name was Kenny Washington and the wide receiver, they didn’t call it that at the time, but he was a receiver at the end who was Woody Strode and so these three black players were pivotal to the success of UCLA. So when it use to be with the Pac-10, the team that had the best record went to the Rose Bowl. So, UCLA and USC were tied, they had to play a game and trying to decide who was going to the Rose Bowl. Jackie Robinson because he and these other two black people on the UCLA team, even though it was a tie, they had a better statistical record than USC. The Rose Bowl people picked USC because they had no blacks on their team and besides USC would’ve had to play in the Rose Bowl, which they did, was a seven team, which was University of Alabama. So he had already met the stings of what it was to be denied because he was black."
What event that Jackie Robinson lead had the biggest impact on the civil rights movement?
"Even before he even gets into baseball, he was in the United States Army and he refused to sit back on the bus, and he was court marshaled so he stood up for his rights and so then the Army exonerated him so he was busy fighting for civil rights long before the civil rights movement really began."
Do you know any other examples that Jackie Robinson showed leadership?
"Well, his life just represents leadership and one of the things he said when he retired, from baseball, he said, my life now, is just beginning. Now I’m free to exercise my rights as a human being and to try to change this country, talking about the United States, by example and by activism. And he used his fame for that purpose and even money that he made, he contributed to the cause of civil rights. He set up foundations for young black children in the area of education and in the area of sports development."
What was it about Jackie Robinson that made him succeed where so many others had unable to bring African-American's their rights?
"Well, part of the reason he had, he had fame on his side. But even before he became famous, he also played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and he was beginning to get attention, well he was a great athlete even before he went to the Monarchs because he got his real fame in athletics, at UCLA. And he used his fame to parlay his zeal, to get black people to get on board to fight for their rights. There’s another thing too, he was very well educated, although I don’t think he got his degree at UCLA, but he did go through his junior year and this difference between the educational background that he had that made Branch Rickey select him over other black players who were coming along at the same time who probably had more talent than he did but because Jackie Robinson was so well educated and well spoken that Branch Rickey picked him out."