Life After the Major Leagues
After his retirement from baseball in 1956, he elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted on July 23, 1962. Jackie was the first African American to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Jackie traded in his baseball uniform for a corporate suit and tie to become the Vice President of Personnel for Chock Full O’Nuts. He began giving motivational speeches, writing newspaper columns, raising money for civil rights organizations, joining protest marches and giving speeches to youth groups. He also held a chair in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Freedom Fund Drive. He also helped run the first black bank in Harlem in New York City.
With Jackie in attendance, the Dodgers retired his uniform in a ceremony at Dodger stadium on June 4, 1972. All of Major League Baseball saluted him on the 50th Anniversary of his breaking the color barrier and permanently retired his number from the game of baseball
Jackie Robinson died on October 24, 1972 in his home in Stamford, Connecticut. During his funeral, the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson said that “no grave could hold this man down.” More than 2,500 mourners came to give their respect to Jackie.
