Jackie Robinson grew up in Cairo, Georgia as the son of a single mother who worked as a sharecropper. Being the only black family in his area, he grew up facing prejudice. Jackie Robinson remained faithful to himself and his civil rights views as he faced many racial issues in his life. While training to serve in the Army, Robinson was arrested for refusing to move to the backof a segregated bus. The charges were dropped and Robinson recieved and honorable discharge.
Soon after leaving the Army Robinson began his baseball career in 1944 with the Kansas City Monarchs, which was apart of the Negroe Leagues. In 1945 Robinson joined the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, after being recruited and signed by Branch Rickey. April 15th, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black player to play inthe major leagues. Robinson's successful career was plagued by racism and discrimination, but Rickey made Robinson promise to not fight back and Robinson was good to his word. He remained faithful to Rickey and baseball abilities and proved that he deserved to play with everyone that was in the major leagues. In 1947, he won the NL Rookie of the Year and in the 1949 season he won the NL MVP award. 1962, Jackie Robsinson became the first black man to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Good websites about Jackie Robinson
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9460813&page=1
http://www.jackierobinson.com/
http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/robinson01.html