The Jackie Robinson Museum finally inaugurated in New York

(New York) A longtime dream and on the drawing board longer than the career of the man it honours, the Jackie Robinson Museum opened Tuesday in Manhattan with a gala attended by the woman the baseball player who broke the racial barrier and two of his children.

Rachel Robinson, who turned 100 on July 19, watched the half-hour outdoor celebration in a wheelchair in 27 degrees Celsius heat, then cut a ribbon to cap off a project started in 2008.

His 72-year-old daughter, Sharon, also attended the event in a wheelchair and his 70-year-old son, David, addressed the crowd of around 200 people seated on folding chairs arranged in a closed section from Varick Street, a major New York thoroughfare where the 19,380 square foot museum is located.

“The problems of baseball, the problems Jackie Robinson faced in 1947, they’re still there,” David Robinson said. The complexity of equal opportunities still exists. »

Rachel Robinson had announced the construction of the museum on April 15, 2008, the date of the 61^e anniversary when Jackie broke the racial barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

Robinson became National League rookie of the year, National League batting champion in 1949 and MVP, seven-time All-Star selection and World Series winner in 1955. hit .313 with 141 home runs and 200 stolen bases in 11 seasons and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Robinson, who died in 1972, had an impact beyond baseball, galvanizing significant portions of American public opinion and spurring the civil rights movement.

“There is nowhere on the planet where the dream is attached to our name – or the name of our country,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams. There is no German dream. There is no French dream. There is no Polish dream. But there is an American dream. And this man and woman took that dream and forced America and baseball to say that this dream is not just a piece of paper, you are going to be a dream in life. We are bigger thanks to the n^oh 42 and because he had an amazing wife who understood that dream and that vision. »

A gala dinner was held Monday evening, ahead of the grand opening of the museum, which contains 350 artifacts, including equipment and items such as Robinson’s minor league contract with the Montreal Royals in 1946 for US$600 a month and his 1947 rookie contract for US$5000 salary. The museum also features a collection of 40,000 images and 450 hours of video footage.

A 15-piece band performed at the ceremony, which was attended by former pitcher CC Sabathia, former National League president Len Coleman and former Mets owner Fred Wilpon, as well as the manager of the Players Association, Tony Clark, and Hall of Fame President, Josh Rawitch.

“Without him, I wouldn’t be here,” Sabathia said. I couldn’t have fulfilled my dream of playing major league baseball. »

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, director Spike Lee (wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers cap) and former tennis star Billie Jean King were also in attendance.

“It looks like we’re more divided than ever,” King said. People like Jackie Robinson are a great reminder every morning, every night that we need to do the right thing every day. »

According to initial projections, the museum was to open in 2010 and cost 25 million. The recession caused a delay.

The groundbreaking finally came on April 27, 2017, when the Jackie Robinson Foundation announced that it had raised $23.5 million of the planned $42 million and that the museum was due to open in 2019. further delays and the total raised rose to 38 million, of which 2.6 million was provided by New York City.

Tickets will cost $18 for adults and $15 for students, seniors and children when the museum opens to the public on September 5. The second floor includes an education center, part of a plan dreamed up by Rachel Robinson.