KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The defaced historical marker recognizing the birthplace of baseball icon Jackie Robinson is now on display at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
Museum officials held a special ceremony Friday to display the marker, which had been on display marking Robinson’s birthplace of Cairo, Georgia. The marker was vandalized by gunfire in 2021.
“The Georgia Historical Society is pleased that the vandalized historical marker from Jackie Robinson’s birthplace has found a new home with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum,” Georgia Historical Society Marker Manager Elyse Butler said in a release. “While troubling, the vandalism led to a unique opportunity to celebrate his legacy.”
Robinson started his professional career in 1945 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.
Two years later, Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
“There absolutely is light that comes out of darkness,” museum President Bob Kendrick said. “The circumstances that led to the marker coming home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum are disturbing, but the marker is also a powerful reminder of Jackie Robinson’s courage in the face of tremendous social adversity and the need for our collective voices to unite to combat hate and social injustice.”
Additional information about the new exhibit and other exhibits that are part of a new “Barrier Breaker” effort is available on the museum’s website.
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