Jackie Robinson plaque defaced by gunshots to be displayed in Negro Leagues museum
A plaque honoring Jackie Robinson's rural Georgia birthplace was riddled with gunshots last year.
MLB worked with local officials to replace the damaged marker with a new one that went on display on Jan. 16. As for the old one? The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum announced that it's accepting it for display at its Kansas City location, bullet holes included.
Museum representative Kiona Sinks explained the significance of displaying the damaged monument without repair.
"The vandalized Jackie Robinson marker will head to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City where it can serve as a reminder that the ugliness of America’s past persists to this day," Sinks wrote on Twitter.
Gun-riddled marker a reminder of Robinson's 'courage'
Museum president Bob Kendrick initially announced the news on Saturday, two days before Robinson's Jan. 31 birthday. He wrote on Twitter that the museum will display the damaged monument "to remind us of the courage [Robinson] demonstrated 75 yrs ago when he broke MLB’s color barrier."
Defaced marker honoring Jackie Robinson coming home to the NLBM to remind us of the courage he demonstrated 75 yrs ago when he broke @MLB’s color barrier. MLB replaced the damaged marker. @Jposnanski @vgregorian @KSHB41 @kmbc @KCTV5 @fox4kc @Royals RT https://t.co/0KFTi3U2kP
— Bob Kendrick (@nlbmprez) January 29, 2022
The new marker now resides in place of the old one in Cairo, Georgia, in the southwest corner of the state near the Florida border. Robinson was born there before his family moved to Pasadena, California, where he grew up and learned to play baseball. The plaque stands near a dilapidated chimney that is all that remains of Robinson's birthplace.
Shooter remains unknown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that locals discovered the gunshot damage last February. The Robinson plaque that was initially installed in 2001 is one of several markers honoring Black Georgians that have been defaced in recent years. Georgia Historical Society executive W. Todd Groce told The New York Times that the plaque appeared to be hit with both shotgun pellets and pistol rounds.
The shooter remains unknown. The Grady County Sheriff’s Office told the AJC last year that it had assigned an investigator to the case. The department didn't return a recent request for comment from the New York Times.
Groce told the Times that the historical society reached out to MLB, which donated $40,000 to replace the damaged plaque and to install a new one near a downtown library in Cairo. NLBM curator Ray Doswell told the Kansas City Star that the museum is working on where and how to display the damaged plaque, which it intends to debut in April to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers that broke MLB's color barrier.
