Jackie Robinson, UCLA football star #28, 1939

Description:

Newsreel 1: "UCLA and USC Football Stars" (silent, 11/12/1939)
Closeups of Harry Smith, USC guard; Granny Lansdell, USC; Jackie Robinson, UCLA right half back; Kenny Washington, UCLA fullback.

Newsreel 2: "USC-UCLA - Trojans Clear Deck for Rose Bowl!" (12/9/1939)
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Appearances by Jackie Robinson and Grenville Lansdell.

Summary: This 1939 newsreel footage from the Hearst Metrotone News Collection features several UCLA and USC football players, most notably a young Jackie Robinson (#28). At UCLA, Robinson was the first student to earn varsity letters in four sports—baseball, basketball, football and track—and also excelled in swimming and tennis.

Eight years later, Robinson brought a long history of segregation in professional baseball to an end by signing a deal with the Brooklyn Dodgers, leaving the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs to play in Major League Baseball. Robinson also became the first Black player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility. In addition to breaking down “baseball’s Jim Crow,” Robinson helped advance the Civil Rights Movement by serving as chairman of the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive, donating to support African American voting rights, marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and using his renown to advocate for the cause. —Russell Zych, Digital Communications Assistant

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Newsreel footage from the UCLA Film & Television Archive's Hearst Metrotone News Collection. Hearst footage may be licensed for film, television and other productions. Learn more: ucla.in/2g6VNJx

© The Regents of the University of California

Complete Record: Newsreel 1: "UCLA and USC Football Stars" (silent, 11/12/1939) Closeups of Harry Smith, USC guard; Granny Lansdell, USC; Jackie Robinson, UCLA right half back; Kenny Washington, UCLA fullback. Newsreel 2: "USC-UCLA - Trojans Clear Deck for Rose Bowl!" (12/9/1939) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Appearances by Jackie Robinson and Grenville Lansdell. Summary: This 1939 newsreel footage from the Hearst Metrotone News Collection features several UCLA and USC football players, most notably a young Jackie Robinson (#28). At UCLA, Robinson was the first student to earn varsity letters in four sports—baseball, basketball, football and track—and also excelled in swimming and tennis. Eight years later, Robinson brought a long history of segregation in professional baseball to an end by signing a deal with the Brooklyn Dodgers, leaving the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs to play in Major League Baseball. Robinson also became the first Black player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility. In addition to breaking down “baseball’s Jim Crow,” Robinson helped advance the Civil Rights Movement by serving as chairman of the NAACP Freedom Fund Drive, donating to support African American voting rights, marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and using his renown to advocate for the cause. —Russell Zych, Digital Communications Assistant ---------- Newsreel footage from the UCLA Film & Television Archive's Hearst Metrotone News Collection. Hearst footage may be licensed for film, television and other productions. Learn more: ucla.in/2g6VNJx © The Regents of the University of California