Jackie Robinson’s family home in Stamford, Conn., had a den featuring trophies, artifacts and a big scrapbook commemorating his many achievements. David Robinson, his son, fondly recalled in an interview how one wall held photos and plaques depicting his father’s success in sports. Another wall — with a collection twice as big — highlighted his father’s social activism, something of far greater significance to Jackie Robinson and his family.
The ethos evoked in that den, emphasizing social activism over sports, is carried on, along with many of the same artifacts, to a new museum in Lower Manhattan dedicated to the legacy of one of the most important figures in American history.