The first African-American to play major league baseball, Jackie Robinson describes his experience in the first few games of the 1947 season, when he was subjected to vicious epithets from other teams and spectators.

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

RELATED CONTENT

In 1949, Jackie Robinson was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee to discuss the appeal of communism to black America.

On this day in history in 1947, Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On June 29, 1947, at the closing session of the 38th annual conference for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Walter F. White, the organization’s executive secretary, warns that despite progress made in civil rights, true equality can’t be achieved with a "separate but equal" mandate.

A civil rights leader in Harlem before entering politics, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1945 to 1971. The fiery politician's oratorical skills are on display in a speech on racial justice.

Born April 15, 1889, A. Philip Randolph was instrumental in leading the civil rights movement in America. In one of many speeches on racial justice, Randolph ponders the question of how to right past wrongs.

How did the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) get its start? What needs and issues does it address, and what has it accomplished since it was founded in 1909?