Baseball Superstar Jackie Robinson Celebrated at MLK Event

Larchmont's Mary Lee Berridge Honored

by Harold Wolfson

(January 11, 2007) Jackie Robinson, the all-star Brooklyn Dodger baseball great who helped integrate major league baseball 60 years ago, was celebrated as a pivotal civil rights leader at the Mamaroneck-Larchmont Human Rights Commission’s 20th annual program to honor Dr. Martin Luther King held January 10th at the Emelin Theater.

In addition, the Commission presented its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award to Mary Lee Berridge, chairman of the Mamroneck/Larchmont Interfaith Council and president of the Local Summit, for her contributions to the community over the past forty years. (See: Mary Lee Berridge to Receive MLK Award.)

Ralph Branca, the 80-year-old former star Dodger pitcher who played alongside Jackie Robinson for 9 years, said Mr. Robinson was dedicated to using his role as the first black in major league baseball to open eyes and minds throughout the nation to the need to provide equal rights and equal opportunity to all.

Ralph Branca (left) talks baseball with Mamaroneck's David Vaughn, a
past recipient of the Human Rights Commission's Martin Luther King Award

Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager in 1947, credited with bringing Mr. Robinson aboard, required that he “turn the other cheek” in the face of taunting and hazing.

According to Mr. Branca, Mr. Robinson faced plenty of taunting and hazing and even physical pokes and jabs on the field by opponents. But Mr. Robinson forced himself to publicly ignore this even though “he was the most competitive and one of the feistiest athletes I have ever known.” Mr.Branca said fans in Philadelphia were among the most bigoted, but even there, they failed to make Mr. Robinson retaliate.

Mr. Robinson felt he was playing ball on behalf of all blacks and determined to make his reponse to open bigotry solely through his excellence in playing ball. He went on to achieve an enviable career batting average of .311, was voted the league’s most valuable player in 1949 when he batted .342 and was known throughout his career for terrorizing infielders as a leader in stolen bases.

Mr. Branca noted that Mr. Robinson began creating cracks in segregation some seven or eight years prior to Dr. King taking over leadership of the civil rights movement in the mid-1950s.

He cited Mr. Robinson’s “dignity and ability” in the face of all provocation. He said Mr. Robinson’s widow, Rachel, now 85 or 86 years old, “helped Jackie over many dark moments.” He concluded, “Jackie’s win was the world’s win….I’m proud to say he was my friend.”

In the other major segment of the evening, Rev. Richard Allen, pastor of the Mamaroneck United Methodist Church and member of the Human Rights Commission, presented the Commission’s award to Ms. Berridge and described her as a formidable advocate for the downtrodden and a “friend to all ---the powerful and the powerless.”

Ms. Berridge (at right) praised Dr. King “because he had a dream and set a course to fulfill it.” She said she regarded local tri-municipal efforts to bridge racial and ethnic differences “with considerable pride. Forty years ago we clearly had much work to do for and with our African-American brothers and sisters ---and so CAP, the Community Action Program, was formed, the Strait Gate Church was supported and Head Start began serving hundreds of disadvantaged African-American and other pre-schoolers. Diversity programs grew throughout our school system.”

She went on to cite the community’s support of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center and singled out for praise Rita Grunbaum, who died last year at age 96. She was “one of our most extraordinary Holocaust survivors….we’ll never forget her clear strong message to always strive to be better than we are.”

Ms. Berridge pointed out that the current challenge posed by Martin Luther King’s dream “is to embrace our newest arrivals ---our Hispanic neighbors and friends. They need us and we need them ---as it was with Irish and Italian immigrants before them.”

“Do you know who offered the first home to the Hispanic Resource Center in 2000? It was CAP ---primarily dedicated to help those in need in the African-American community---but clearly an organization open to the larger dream. And now St. Thomas Episcopal Church houses the Hispanic Resource Center---and St. Vitos, a Roman Catholic Church of predominantly Italian background, offers a spiritual home to Hispanic Catholics as well. And the Westchester Jewish Center has been exemplary in its support …” of programs to integrate new immigrants into the community.

Ms. Berridge commented that there is still much work to be done in fulfilling Dr. King’s dream and threw a figurative bouquet to the Local Summit organization which she said is “dedicated to the betterment of the community” in the Dr. King spirit.

The Hommocks Singers under the direction of Mary Hermann

Other highlights of the Annual Tribute to Dr. King were:

• Music in the 1940's and 1950's tradition by the Hommocks Faculty Quintet
• Introductions and comments by April Farber, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission
• Sing-alongs with The Hommocks Singers under the direction of Mary Hermann
• Poetry, slide illustrations and mime called “Jackie Robinson’s Dream” by the U.S. History Class at Rye Neck High School, coordinated by faculty members Nora Hanson and Dorothy Saraceno
• Reading of a tri-municipal proclamation in honor of Ms. Berridge by Mayors Liz Feld of Larchmont and Philip Trifiletti of Mamaroneck Village and Valerie O’Keeffe, Supervisor of the Town of Mamaroneck. Ms. O’Keeffe recalled her experiences as a youngster being taken to twilight doubleheaders at Ebbetts Field by her mother. Ms. O’Keeffe rattled off from memory half a dozen colleagues of Jackie Robinson whose ball-playing she enjoyed.
• A Dance, “My Love,” by the Multi-Cultural Club, ShannonTurner-Porter faculty advisor.