How Dodgers continue to invest in Jackie Robinson legacy
How Dodgers continue to invest in Jackie Robinson legacy
Josh Peter, USA TODAYWed, April 15, 2026 at 10:06 AM UTC
0
Mark Walter and his ownership group bought the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. Not long after, he called Rachel Robinson, widow of Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson, said Della Britton, president and CEO of the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
“Literally Mark supported us from day one when he bought the Dodgers,’’ Britton told USA TODAY Sports. "One of the first meetings he had, he called Rachel and Rachel and I went out to Los Angeles (from New York) and he said, ‘I want you to know this is part of your legacy and I very much feel the importance of this legacy to the team's history. We're partners...''
Jackie Robinson Day (Wednesday, April 15) will help spotlight the partnership between the Dodgers' current ownership group and Robinson's legacy.
In December, Walter and Thomas Toll, director of the movie "42" about Jackie Robinson, announced a $20 million to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which along with the Jackie Robinson Museum is in New York.
“I remember Mark calling me,’’ Britton said, “and saying, 'Della, what do you need? You’ve worked so hard on this museum. We're so proud. Can we be helpful?'"
1 / 0Jackie Robinson: A look at the life and career of MLB trailblazerAmerican baseball player Jackie Robinson (1919 - 1972) during his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, on August 28, 1949.
The Jackie Robinson Museum opened in 2022. When Walter learned a bridge loan on the museum project needed to be paid off, he came through, according to Britton. She also said Walter believes in a key part of Jackie Robinson’s story – the power of sports.
“It's an amazing equalizer, but it can also be an amazing force for change, for good,’’ Britton said. “And that's another thing that Mark Walter talks about, how he realizes how important sports is to bringing people together and for implementing the whole notion of egalitarianism.’’
'A bigger celebration'
On Wednesday, Rachel Robinson plans to be at the Jackie Robinson Museum, where she celebrated Jackie Robinson Day last year, too.
Advertisement
Britton planned to be at Dodger Stadium for the league-wide commemoration Major League Baseball started in 2004.
Jackie Robinson died in 1972. But Rachel Robinson has been around for all of the league-wide Jackie Robinson Day tributes held in honor of her late husband and Rachel Robinson's work, too.
She is 103 and lives in New York, home of the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the Jackie Robinson Museum. Of the foundation, Britton said, "We're a 53-year-old college scholarship program that Rachel started the year after Jackie died.’’
The Dodgers Foundation has supported dozens of Jackie Robinson scholars, according to Britton, who also said Walter hired some “very smart Jackie Robinson scholars.’’
Major League Baseball also supports the scholarship program, and preparation for Jackie Robinson Day has been underway, according to Britton.
“So it would start with the 30 teams,’’ she said, noting that Major League Baseball also has donated “generously’’ to the museum. “Each team, thanks to Major League Baseball by the way, supports a Jackie Robinson scholar..."
Several teams will honor scholars at the ballpark on Wednesday. Then there are the Dodgers.
“First of all, they embrace the fact that they support 10 Jackie Robinson scholars and they invite them all to the game and they put them on the field at the beginning,’’ Britton said. “So they have a big celebration. But then throughout the game, the Jumbotron gives stats and figures about not just Jackie Robinson, but also the foundation, his living legacy, if you will. So it's a bigger celebration. … It's wonderful.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Dodgers continue to invest in the Jackie Robinson legacy
Source: “AOL Sports”
