Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship.

In 1997, Major League Baseball retired his uniform No. 42 across all major league teams; he was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. 42.

Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement. Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off the field.

 ^{The longest-running operation of all the great early photographers, George Burke and George Brace covered baseball in one form or another for the better part of the 20th century—from 1929 to the 1990s. Their tenure had an auspicious beginning, to say the least. In 1929, Cubs manager Joe McCarthy and catcher Gabby Hartnett sought out the ballclub’s previous photographer. They could only remember his last name, Burke, so they looked him up in the phone book. A listing leapt out at them: studio photographer George C. Burke, whose office was located near Wrigley Field. Thus began the baseball photography career of George Burke, who had no prior sports experience, and thus ended the career of photographer Francis Burke—the Cubs’ time-honored official cameraman and an unwitting victim of mistaken identity.}

George Burke hired a young, baseball-knowledgeable assistant named George Brace, and the two soon became a Chicago institution. Ever-present at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park, Burke and Brace endeavored to amass a complete portfolio of player portraits—a daunting task made possible by the fact that Chicago was the only city with both an American League and a National League franchise from 1929 all the way until Brace’s retirement in 1993. Nary a visiting ballplayer refused a quick sitting during Chicago home stands. Some even stopped by Burke and Brace’s studio for additional, more formal portraits. The tandem was also well-known for endearingly candid pre-game and off-the-field shots—proof positive that both photographers were always welcomed by their famed subjects, embraced by them as friends at the stadium, at parties, in hotels, and on the street. The Sporting News, Baseball Digest and Who’s Who in the Major Leagues were just a few of the publications in which Burke and Brace’s work frequently appeared.

In 1948, Burke suffered a heart attack. Brace carried on the business for several years in order to offset his partner’s medical expenses. Then, upon Burke’s death in 1951, Brace reduced his commitment from a job to an all-encompassing hobby. Though no longer their official photographer, he was still allowed full access by the Cubs and Sox organizations. It was a privilege he would maintain up until his death, a half-century later. With the exception of time spent as a U.S. Army medic in the South Pacific during World War II, Brace attended at least one game of every home series at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park throughout his entire 65-year career. For many of those years, he worked late shifts or odd jobs that paid his expenses and wouldn’t conflict with the game schedule. He always liked to arrive at the ballpark several hours early, when players were just arriving and fans were nowhere to be seen. In 1994, his age finally caught up with him. Worsening eyesight forced his retirement from this long-time labor of love. Brace followed baseball up until the end and also co-authored a book, The Game That Was: The George Brace Photo Collection.