Mack Robinson(1912-2000)
Matthew MacKenzie "Mack" Robinson was born to a family of sharecroppers on July 18, 1912 in Cairo, Georgia. The older brother of legendary Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson, Mack and his siblings were raised by their mother Mallie Robinson after they were left fatherless at an early age. The Robinson family eventually moved to Pasadena, California. Mack first established himself as a promising athlete by setting national junior college records in the men's 100 meters, men's 200 meters, and men's long jump while a student at Pasadena Junior College. Robinson earned a spot on the Olympic team for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany after placing second in the 200 meters at the United States Olympic trials and went on to win the silver medal at the 1936 Olympics by finishing second in the same event right behind Jesse Owens.
In the wake of his Olympic triumph Mack set a national junior college record in the men's long jump in 1937 as well as won both the national and Amateur Athletic Union track titles at the University of Oregon in 1938. However, Robinson dropped out of college in his senior year so he could return home and support his family back in Pasadena, where he was reduced to sweeping downtown streets with a broom while wearing his Olympic sweatshirt with USA written on the front. Alas, Mack lost this particular job after the city of Pasadena fired all of its black workers in retaliation over an order made by a judge to desegregate public pools that were discriminating against blacks.
Fortunately, Robinson was able to still graduate from the University of Oregon in 1941 and went on to work as both an usher at Dodger Stadium and as a truant officer for John Muir High School in Pasadena. In 1984 Mack was one of several athletes chosen to carry a giant Olympic flag into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the opening ceremony for the 1984 Olympics. In 1997 both Robinson and his brother Jackie were honored with nine foot tall bronze sculptures of their heads in Centennial Plaza located right across the street from city hall in Pasadena. In addition, Mack was inducted into both the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. Robinson died at age 85 at a hospital in Pasadena on March 12, 2000. He was survived by his wife Delano, their three sons and three daughters, a son and daughter from previous marriages, twenty-five grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.
In the wake of his Olympic triumph Mack set a national junior college record in the men's long jump in 1937 as well as won both the national and Amateur Athletic Union track titles at the University of Oregon in 1938. However, Robinson dropped out of college in his senior year so he could return home and support his family back in Pasadena, where he was reduced to sweeping downtown streets with a broom while wearing his Olympic sweatshirt with USA written on the front. Alas, Mack lost this particular job after the city of Pasadena fired all of its black workers in retaliation over an order made by a judge to desegregate public pools that were discriminating against blacks.
Fortunately, Robinson was able to still graduate from the University of Oregon in 1941 and went on to work as both an usher at Dodger Stadium and as a truant officer for John Muir High School in Pasadena. In 1984 Mack was one of several athletes chosen to carry a giant Olympic flag into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the opening ceremony for the 1984 Olympics. In 1997 both Robinson and his brother Jackie were honored with nine foot tall bronze sculptures of their heads in Centennial Plaza located right across the street from city hall in Pasadena. In addition, Mack was inducted into both the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. Robinson died at age 85 at a hospital in Pasadena on March 12, 2000. He was survived by his wife Delano, their three sons and three daughters, a son and daughter from previous marriages, twenty-five grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.
