Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia, and went on to become the first black player in the modern era of Major League Baseball. The local Boys and Girls Club was recently named after him.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Jack Hadley founded a black history museum in Thomasville, Georgia, that's filled with hundreds of photographs and memorabilia featuring African-American politicians, soldiers and athletes. There's a section dedicated to Jackie Robinson.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Hadley points out a front-page story in black-owned Pittsburgh Courier about Jackie Robinson, who became a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
The Cairo High School baseball team waits between innings during a game against Americus-Sumter High School. The field at the school is named after Robinson.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
A small plaque marks Jackie Robinson Field at Cairo High School.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Charles Renaud, a former county commissioner, spearheaded the effort to name the Boys and Girls Club in Cairo after Robinson. He says the community should learn from a past of racial animosity and move forward for the greater good of a younger generation.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Aniyah Peters, 13, is a member of the Jackie Robinson Boys and Girls Club. She says Robinson's achievements inspire her to pursue her dreams.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Robinson's relative Dr. Linda Walden had wanted a statue of Jackie Robinson erected on the Grady County Courthouse lawn. That didn't happen. Currently, there's a monument honoring Confederate soldiers.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
Dr. Linda Walden moved back to Cairo in 1996 and has tried for years to get the community to acknowledge and commemorate Robinson's legacy.
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The birthplace of Jackie Robinson —
A dilapidated chimney is all that remains of Jackie Robinson's family home in rural Grady County. The house burned down in 1996, but the property is owned and maintained by his cousin Linda Walden.
