Jackie Robinson Breaking the Color Line in Daytona Beach

On April 15, 1947 (75 years ago today) Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line in Major League Baseball when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. HOWEVER, his first game as a member of the Brooklyn organization was a few weeks early, on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1947 in Daytona Beach, FL at City Island Park (now Jackie Robinson Memorial Baseball Park) and Mr. Harold V. Lucas, Jr. (now 89 years old) was there to witness it along with over 4,000 fans, which included almost 1,000 African Americans!

It was a Dodgers spring training game against one of their top farm clubs, the Montreal Royals. Mr. Robinson was playing for the Royals. The game was played in Daytona Beach after attempts to have Robinson play in Sanford, Jacksonville and DeLand were thwarted by intimidation, locked stadium gates or supposedly faulty lighting.

Mr. Lucas was fortunate to have encountered Mr. Robinson on a number of occasions. The team would practice on Kelly Field (now the Midtown Cultural Center). Mr. Lucas and other kids would catch Mr. Robinson's foul balls and he would talk to the kids. When Mr. Lucas was in the 9th grade, Mr. Robinson came and spoke to his school (Campbell Street High School, the Black high school in Daytona during that time) during an assembly. Because of this connection Mr. Lucas was selected to share a part of his-story on this HISTORIC day. CLICK HERE to listen in on this interview snippet facilitated by StoryCorps which aired this morning on National Public Radio (NPR) to hear some of the things he shared! #42 #JackieRobinsonDay #JackieRobinson #HVLFoundation #honorthepast #enhancethepresent #contributetothefuture #daytonabeach