On July.24,2018 I visited the Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese memorial located in Brooklyn,NY next to MCU Park, a minor league baseball stadium. The statue made out of bronze and granite was open to the public in 2005 attracting hundred of thousand sports fans every year. The monument stands high with both ball players Robinson and Reese dressed in what used to be known as the Brooklyn, Dodgers uniform. This memorial was built in honor of Robinson’s accomplishment of breaking the color barrier and becoming the first African American male to play baseball.
Inquiries:
-Why is does Jackie Robinson have his hand around Pee Wee Reese? Does it symbolize anything in particular?
-What was the reason for building this memorial?
The visit:
During my visit I was astonished by everything from the amount of people there, to the message it held, and the quotes on the bottom of where they stood. A quote that really stood out to me read “In May 1947, on Cincinnati’s Crosley field, Robinson endured racist taunts, jeers and death threats that would have broken the spirit of a lesser man,” this gives an insight of how strong mentally Jackie was to avoid the unfriendly comments from getting to his head and went on with the game. In this game, Jackie puts his hand around his good friend Reese and the crowd goes silent from the shock of seeing this. Having to fight against all the racism and finally getting to the major league is a big accomplishment, Jackie demonstrated a lot of perseverance, bravery, resilience, and pride. As Jackie placed his right hand on Reese’s shoulders, the crowd realized that the players were supportive and comfortable playing with Robinson revealing a welcoming team and equality within all the players on the field. After reviewing all this information with conversations with other visitors, I realized that it was built to honor Jackie Robinson next to a baseball field to remind us how fortunate we are to be able to play baseball and share the great experience of playing baseball.
Site used:
https://www.nycgovparks.org/art-and-antiquities/monuments/black-history-month/robinson-and-reese
LC Public History Blog 
I like the qualities you used to describe the monument, how important are these qualities for the United States as a whole, not just in baseball?
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I found the event you described really interesting, the fact that the whole crowd went silent really demonstrates peoples feelings at the time, and shows how Jackie was making an impact not only on the field but in people’s lives as well.
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I liked your interpretation of the different aspects of the statue, however, I think you should connect it back to the issue of American identity. You ended the post a bit abruptly and I think it could have benefited from more explanation and a conclusion.
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