This weekend (yesterday, actually) the immensely talented, productive and successful Ms. Rachel Robinson – wife of the late, great Jackie Robinson -celebrates her 103rd birthday.
How talented, productive and successful has Ms. Robinson been? From her entry at wikipedia.com:
After Jackie Robinson’s retirement from baseball following the 1956 season, Rachel Robinson further pursued her nursing career, obtaining a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from New York University in 1959. She worked as a researcher and clinician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine‘s Department of Social and Community Psychiatry, a position she held for five years. She then became an assistant professor at Yale School of Nursing and later the Director of Nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.
In 1972, she incorporated the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation, a real estate development company specializing in low- to moderate-income housing, and served as president for ten years. In 1973, she founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a not-for-profit organization providing educational and leadership opportunities for minority students. The Foundation has provided support for over 1,000 minority students and has maintained a 97% graduation rate among its scholars.
In 1996, she coauthored Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait with Lee Daniels, published by Abrams Publishing Company
That’s some résumé, wouldn’t you say?
So here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson. I have no doubt I am joined by countless others in wishing you a very, very happy birthday and more to come!!!
