Pasadena Robinson Memorial

The Pasadena Robinson Memorial was created through a community effort led by the Board of Directors of Pasadena Robinson Memorial and the City of Pasadena, with monumental bronze portraitures of Mack and Jackie Robinson centered on the brothers’ lifelong accomplishments. Mack Robinson won the silver medal in the 200-meter dash at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and attended John Muir High School, Pasadena Junior College, and the University of Oregon. Jackie Robinson lettered in four major sports at John Muir High School, Pasadena Junior College, and the University of California, Los Angeles, then broke major league baseball’s color barrier in 1947 as a player for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was also among the founders of the first African-American owned bank in New York City. The brothers’ abilities, self-confidence, and determination helped set the stage for others to overcome barriers, and both men lived complex lives, contributed to their communities, served as role models, and worked tirelessly for civil justice. Their sculptures use descriptive text and images inscribed on the backs and sides of their heads to highlight their multifaceted lives, and the monumental portrait format was chosen to honor contributions that reached beyond athletics. Mack, who was raised in and remained in Pasadena, faces City Hall, while Jackie, who left the city, faces east toward Brooklyn and the location of his adult domiciles. In Centennial Square, the sculptures were intended to create a gentle spectacle that would promote meditation and reflection. The dedication in 1997 coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the landscaping phase was completed on June 20, 2002, with a Commemorative Ring of Donors, lighting, inscribed benches, and flowering peach trees honoring the brothers’ birthplace of Cairo, Georgia. Art Center College of Design students also created a CD-ROM, Beyond Glory: Stories of Mack and Jackie Robinson, and copies were symbolically suspended inside each sculpture.

Pasadena, California · United States