Robinson (Jackie) Park

In the years following World War II, the Chicago Park District began a major effort to create new parks in rapidly-growing neighborhoods. As part of this initiative, a committee formed in 1946 with representatives of the Chicago Park District and Board of Education to determine how facilities could jointly serve as schools and parks. At that time, the Chicago Park District had identified dozens of sites for park expansion and 16 of them were adjacent to existing schools. The Joint Committee on School-Parks studied the 16 locations and made specific recommendations for additions to the school buildings, and improvements to the surrounding grounds including playgrounds, athletic fields, and passive landscape areas. The proposed improvements included club rooms and gymnasiums for use during afterschool hours and weekends. Mount Vernon Elementary School in Chicago’s Washington Heights neighborhood was one of the initial 16 schools identified for the program. The park district began purchasing land adjacent to Mount Vernon School in 1946, and plans for the new School-Park were published in the Chicago Tribune in 1955. Two years later, the Chicago Park District and Board of Education completed the project. Both the park and the adjacent school were originally named Mount Vernon, for George Washington's Virginia home. In 1999, the Chicago Park District formally renamed the park in response to the Mount Vernon Park Advisory Council’s suggestion that it should honor baseball great Jackie Robinson (1919-1972). When he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Robinson became the first African-American to play major league baseball. He was voted "Rookie of the Year" for his part in Brooklyn's pennant-winning season. Two years later, he led the league in batting and stolen bases, and was named most valuable player. Jackie Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1984, President Ronald Regan posthumously awarded Jackie Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a civilian who has contributed to the national interests of the United States of America.