Name games
Debate over renaming Robinson Park heats up
By André Coleman 10/21/2009
Embittered by the city’s refusal to formally honor the Olympic achievements of his older brother, Mack, baseball legend Jackie Robinson wrote that he “didn’t want to have anything to do with Pasadena.”
Today — 63 years after Mack won a Silver Medal, coming in a fraction of a second behind Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and 37 years after Jackie penned those words in “I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson,” originally published in 1972, the year he died — Pasadena officials are considering a proposal that might have angered Jackie just as much.
On Tuesday, The Fair Oaks Project Area Committee will discuss possible name changes to Robinson Park. Established in 1974, the park now implicitly recognizes both brothers.
Fair Oaks PAC Chairman Ishmael Trone wants to rename the park — which is currently undergoing a $24 million renovation — as Jackie Robinson Park.
“When you Google it, it always comes up Jackie Robinson Park,” Trone said. “I have a request in with the city to research the name of the park. We are trying to solve a conversation that has been going on for years. Researching the origins of the name will bring a lot to the forefront.”
The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at the Jackie Robinson Center, 1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave., across the street from the park.
Mack Robinson’s widow, Delano, told the Weekly two weeks ago that she hoped that her husband would be included in the new name, but that she would support whatever was decided.
Trone said that if the community wants Mack’s name on the park, he would go along with it and ask the Northwest Commission to support the recommendation. Chairman Charles Nelson said he would have no problem doing that. With the backing of both organizations, the recommendation would go back to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
The Parks and Recreation Commission met about the name change Sept. 14, rejecting the proposal after several people denounced ignoring Mack. “They had a community meeting; the consensus of the meeting was that the community wants Jackie and Mack Robinson’s name on that park,” said Nelson. “It’s their park. I think that it is very important that we include the community in the decision-making process. If that’s what the community wants, that’s what we should do.”
“There was a lot of very strong testimony in favor of Jackie’s contribution to our country, but people want to honor Mack for coming back and giving back to the community,” said Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Tim Wendler. “We don’t want to slight anyone.”
The park is undergoing a renovation that will include two baseball fields, a football field that can be used for soccer, bleachers, two batting cages and bullpen areas, picnic tables and storage for sports equipment and maintenance. Plans also call for a parking lot, restrooms, concession buildings and energy-efficient lighting for the sports fields, which would be equipped with synthetic turf.
Pasadena NAACP President Joe Brown said that the community would be better served placing its energy someplace else. “I think it needs to remain as it is,” said Brown. “I don’t see any value added by changing the name.”
Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 — an event considered an early victory in the fight for equal rights — when Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey signed him to a contract that paid $600 per month, big money in those days.
Jackie returned to Pasadena after that only for brief visits with family members. He eventually joined the Republican Party and testified against activist and admitted Communist Paul Robeson before the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1960 — four years after retiring from baseball — he endorsed Republican Vice President Richard Nixon over then-US Sen. John F. Kennedy for president. He also supported the Vietnam War and criticized Muhammad Ali for refusing to serve in the army at that time.
Mack Robinson remained in Pasadena, working for the city’s Public Works Department and active on his own time in personally policing neighborhoods for truant children and drug use. He had been unable to get sponsorship for his trip to Germany in 1936, was forced to wear a pair of beat-up shoes in the Olympics and always wondered how he might have done with better equipment.
The post office on Orange Grove Boulevard near Lincoln Avenue was later renamed for Mack, but his name has never been placed on the outside of the building. Instead a small sign — easy to miss — was placed on the opposite side of the street acknowledging the name change.
Mack died in 2000 due to complications of diabetes at the age of 88.
“Both have contributed to Pasadena’s history in a significant way and represented all of us extremely well,” said Pasadena City Councilman Chris Holden. “Mack was here laboring in our community, working hard and making changes. He made his name on the world stage and came home, Jackie made his name and had issues with Pasadena — and rightfully so. What we really want to be able to do is recognize both of them, and if that means it is Robinson Park or it’s Jackie and Mack Robinson Park, so be it. What we need to find is a way to do this that is respectful to both of them, while letting the families know that we appreciate all they did for our community.”
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