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The Georgia Historical Society Presents an Evening with Journalist Scott Simon and Georgia Days Honoree Jackie Robinson

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Savannah, GA – January 13, 2010.  The Georgia Historical Society with support from BG Group and the City of Savannah, will kickoff the 2010 Lecture Series and Georgia Days festivities with a lecture by National Public Radio’s Scott Simon, author of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball, at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. The presentation is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book sale and signing.

In this family friendly public event, award-winning journalist and author Scott Simon (NPR’s Weekend Edition) will discuss his critically acclaimed book, Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball.  The program will highlight the legacy of Jackie Robinson, baseball legend, civil rights pioneer, Georgia native, and 2010 Georgia Days Honoree.  Highlighting the challenges and ultimate triumph of Robinson’s 1947 Major League debut, this program will set the stage for the entire series of Georgia Days events designed to educate students of all ages about the life and unique contributions of one of America’s true heroes.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson (1919 – 1972) was born to tenant farmers living near Cairo, Georgia (Grady County).  Jackie Robinson not only earned acclaim through athletic accomplishments, but he also became a cultural icon responsible for breaking down color barriers in America’s favorite pastime.  Beyond his .311 career batting average and numerous accolades earned throughout his baseball career, Robinson was a savvy businessman and active in the civil rights movement.  He was a vocal supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and he traveled extensively to raise support for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  At King’s request, Robinson went to Albany, Georgia, to speak after two black churches were burned there in August 1962 and he headed a national campaign to raise money to rebuild the Albany churches and a burned church in Lee County, Georgia.  Robinson is clearly a national figure whose story was shaped beyond his modest Georgia roots, yet he remains a local hero in the hearts of many Georgians.

Robinson will be featured throughout the 2010 Georgia Days events.   Curriculum materials, correlated to Georgia Performance Standards, featuring Robinson are available at www.georgiahistory.com by following the Georgia Days link. For more information about Georgia Days 2010 events, visit www.georgiahistory.com and follow the Georgia Days links.

Scott Simon is host of National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday program.  Journalist and noted author, Mr. Simon has received numerous honors for his reporting.  Among his many accolades are multiple Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for his coverage of September 11th and its aftermath, the war in Kosovo, and the Gulf War; the George Foster Peabody Award for his weekly radio essays on the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador and the San Francisco earthquake; and an Emmy for the public television documentary The Patterson Project, which examined the effects of President Reagan’s budget cuts on the lives of 12 New Jersey residents.  Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball is Mr. Simon’s second book; it kicked off the Wiley Turning Points series in September of 2002 and was the Barnes & Noble “Sports Book of the Year.”

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With funding provided in part by:

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For a complete list of Georgia Days 2010 sponsors, click here.