Central Florida played important role in baseball's integration

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - While Jackie Robinson is most known for breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier, he also helped integrate the segregated south, right here in Florida. 

"He was the kind of person that people wanted to come out and see play baseball," Bill Shumann said.

Robinson spent the 1946 season with the Dodgers' triple-A team, the Montreal Royals. 

He made his debut in an exhibition game at the City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach that spring – which a Black man had never done before. 

"This was historic in the south. This was the first crowd in Daytona Beach. These are the first fans in the history of the segregated south to accept integrated baseball," Schumann said. 

The city of Daytona Beach ignored Jim Crow laws, which made segregation legal. This allowed Robinson to play in spring games, and also allowed Black fans in the stands. 

But that wasn't the case for surrounding cities like Sanford, where the chief of police made Robinson leave the during his team's minor league game. 

"This is because Daytona Beach was different politically than the rest of the south. Because of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and the politics of Daytona Beach," Schumann said. 

Robinson's time in Central Florida wasn't long. But it was impactful.

Bill Schumann spent decades researching Robinson. He's also the founder of the Jackie Robinson Statue Committee.