Mystery History -- Solved

Karin wins with her Tuesday 9:42 a.m. guess "Jackie Robinson's mother reading about his induction into the baseball hall of fame, 1962."

In the photo above, printed in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner in 1962, Mallie Robinson sits in her Pasadena home at 133 Pepper St. and reads the news that her son will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The photo, dated Jan. 25 of that year, was taken by Herald-Examiner photographer Terry Sullivan. The photo in the newspaper had this caption:

Mrs. Mallie Robinson, Jackie's 72-year-old mother, reads story of son's Hall of Fame election in Pasadena home. "I knew he'd make it," she said.

Born Jan. 31, 1919, in Georgia and raised in Pasadena, Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was a graduate of Washington Junior High School, Muir Tech and Pasadena Junior College. He left UCLA just a few credits short of graduating and joined the U.S. Army.

After her sharecropper husband abandoned the family, Mallie Robinson packed up her five children (Jackie was 16 months old) in 1920 and boarded a train from Georgia to Los Angeles. She rented an apartment in Pasadena and later they moved in with a family on Glorieta Street. After she found steady work as a domestic worker, Mallie bought the house on Pepper Street in 1923. The Robinsons were the first African American family on that street. The home was demolished in the early 1970s; a plaque in the sidewalk marks the site.

Mallie is seated below with her children -- left to right -- Mack, Jackie, Edgar, Willa Mae and Frank.


And here's Jackie (left) as a teenager, playing ball in front of the house on Pepper Street.


Jackie (center) visited home in Pasadena with Mack and Mallie in 1947.


In his autobiography, he wrote:

Several days before the winners were announced, before leaving for my office at Chock Full O'Nuts, as I kissed Rachel good-bye, she told me to "be very careful what you say today."

Rachel has almost always agreed with my basic intentions when I sounded off. I could tell she was concerned that I might unnecessarily say something which would hurt my chances of being chosen.

On the evening of Tuesday, January 23, I learned that the baseball writers had given me 124 out of 160 ballots cast. Appropriately, I was with Rachel in Stamford when the word came.

The phones began ringing. The newsmen and cameramen began arriving. Everybody wanted to hear my reaction. Truthfully, after having steeled myself to be passed over and not to let it hurt me a lot, I was almost inarticulate.

Branch Rickey (left) joins Jackie, Jackie's wife Rachel and his mother Mallie after the induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York.


Jackie passed away at the age of 53 -- too young -- on Oct. 24, 1972, at his home in Stamford, Connecticut.

Rachel Robinson keeps her husband's legacy alive through her work with the Jackie Robinson Foundation in New York City, which she founded.


Pasadena has paid tribute to Jackie Robinson and his family in many ways: a community center, post office, stadium, ball field and more bear the Robinson name.

Please allow me to correct one mistake many people make: Robinson Park in Pasadena was named in honor of the entire family, including Jackie, Mack, the other siblings and Mallie. There is no such thing as Jackie Robinson Park in this city.


The Robinson Memorial, created by artists Ralph Helmick, Stu Schecter and John Outterbridge across the street from City Hall, is a wonderful installation that honors Jackie and Mack. When you visit, be sure to go around to the back side to see the symbols and inscriptions on the backs of the heads.

I'll have more about Mack and the other siblings another time.




Many thanks to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Robinson family and the National Baseball Library for use of some of the photos.

Mystery History -- Solved

Petrea almost became a three-time winner with her guess of "Teddy Roosevelt's visit" but then Paul Little, CEO of Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, came in with the specific location so he wins the fabulous prize!

Sure enough, President Theodore Roosevelt visited Pasadena on May 8, 1903. In the photo above, Benjamin D. Wilson School* stands decorated and ready for this unusual state occasion. Roosevelt gave a speech at the school, which was one of many Pasadena locations to be festooned to the hilt.

It was a high school from 1892 to 1903. Here's how it looked without all those decorations:


Newspapers throughout the land were reporting on the planning of Roosevelt's Great Western Tour during which he would visit states from Kansas to California, including a walk through Yosemite with the great John Muir himself.


When Pasadena community leaders learned of the upcoming tour, they sent a specially made key to the city along with an invitation to visit this community during his travels.

From the Feb. 28, 1903, New York Times:

President Roosevelt today received a valuable invitation from the citizens of Pasadena, Cal. What its exact value is has not been made known, but it is worth a good deal, for it is in gold. The invitation, which was handed to the President today by Representative McLachlan of California, asks Mr. Roosevelt to visit Pasadena on his coming trip to the West. It is in the form of a key of solid gold, and around the stem of the key is a splendidly engraved crown.

The key is emblematic of the key of Pasadena, and the crown is emblematic of the Indian name for Pasadena, "The crown of the valley." Pasadena is located at the head of the San Gabriel Valley. The invitation is extended by the Mayor and business officials of the town. The key is four inches long and is a good representation of the mammoth keys of the olden days. It is attached to a small piece of native wood that lies in the bottom of a specially made box. The box is of orange wood, with hinges of gold, and gold trimmings at the corners. A gold plate in the centre is inscribed as follows:

"Presented to Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, by resolution of the citizens of Pasadena, Cal., Jan. 6, 1903."

On the inside of the lid of the box is the following inscription:

"Pasadena. Greetings to our President."

Then follows a formal invitation for a visit, signed by W.A. Heiss of the City Council, and members of the trade organizations of the city.

Most of the invitations received by the President have met with the reply that the matter would be taken under consideration. The President, however, was so much pleased with this invitation that he directed Secretary Loeb to arrange for a stop in Pasadena in May.

On the way to Benjamin D. Wilson School, the president's coach came down Marengo Avenue, which was decorated with a huge, elaborate arch of lilies and tall wooden posts with palm fronds and wreaths on them.

Then, when he arrived at Wilson School, a rose-strewn walkway had been laid down for him.

And here's the man himself, giving his speech, no doubt saying "Bully" to this stuffed grizzly bear!

Roosevelt was a passionate conservationist. While in Pasadena, he was taken to the Arroyo Seco where he famously declared his support to Mayor William H. Vedder for the movement to keep it as a natural park: "Oh, Mr. Mayor, don't let them spoil that! Just keep it as it is."

That was just the momentum that was needed, and within eight years the City of Pasadena began acquiring acreage in the Arroyo Seco.

You know I can't miss the opportunity to show you Mayor Vedder from the Hall of Mayors, right?

By the way, son of Pasadena and baseball great Jackie Robinson's middle name was Roosevelt in honor of this President.

Come back tomorrow (Friday) for the speech President Roosevelt delivered to the people of Pasadena.

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Museum of History.

*Benjamin Davis Wilson, for whom this school was named, was more popularly known as Don Benito. Mt. Wilson, Wilson Avenue and Don Benito School were named in his honor. The current Wilson Middle School was named for President Woodrow Wilson.

Parade is On, Festival is Rescheduled

The Black History Parade will proceed as planned Saturday, Feb. 21. It will go down Fair Oaks Avenue, beginning at Charles White Park in Altadena (Ventura at Fair Oaks) and ending on Fair Oaks Avenue between Hammond and Mountain in Pasadena.

The post-parade festival has been rescheduled to coincide with a community celebration in memory of Jackie Robinson this coming May. Plans are in the works for that event, which will be very nice. Jackie Robinson's widow and other family members will be in attendance, which we're all looking forward to.

Earthquake!

Zack Stromberg, my graphic designer in the Public Affairs Office, was giving me an update on a project. Suddenly there was a jolt, and then the building began gently, ever so gently, swaying.

Had the earthquake hit prior to the seismic retrofit of Pasadena City Hall, it would have been horrible. But I'm happy to say the retrofit worked and all those base isolators did their job.

We were evacuated immediately. We headed down the stairs to the Garfield side of the building and then across the street, which is the standard evacuation for earthquakes, fires and other incidents. Some departments go to the northwest corner of Garfield and Holly, and other departments go the southwest corner where the Robinson Memorial (lovingly called "the heads") is located.

Before I show you evacuation photos, is your earthquake kit in order? How about your family emergency plan? Explore our Emergency Preparedness web page and get a move on!

Here are city employees beginning to gather at the northwest corner:


I was among the employees who gathered at the southwest corner:


Here's Zack, Barney Melekian, a constituent, our Public Affairs summer intern in the blue with her arm over her head, Assistant City Manager Julie Gutierrez with her back turned, Councilwoman Margaret McAustin, the mayor's executive assistant Lorain Nagahiro, and City Clerk's Office executive secretary Kathy Vandervort with her back turned.


It doesn't show up very well in this photo, but there are etchings on the backs of "the heads" that represent the accomplishments of Jackie and Mack Robinson who grew up in Pasadena. If you've never walked over and looked around the entire installation, I highly recommend it!


Pasadena Fire Department arrived to do an inspection of the building to ensure it was safe to reoccupy. Once they gave the high sign, an hour after we evacuated, we went back to work.