Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Eisenhower

Jackie Robinson’s entry into Major League Baseball ended 60 years of racial segregation in that sport. Off the baseball field, Robinson campaigned tirelessly for civil rights for blacks. In this letter to President Eisenhower dated May 13, 1958, Robinson, then vice president of personnel at Chock Full O’Nuts, criticizes comments Eisenhower made urging blacks to have patience in their struggle for equality.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum, National Archives