Jackie Robinson grew up in Pasadena after moving there from Georgia.
Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. After his father left the family in 1920, his mother, Mallie Robinson, moved with Jackie and his siblings to Pasadena, California. The family settled at 121 Pepper Street, where they lived in two small houses and faced financial hardship.
Pasadena was an important setting for Robinson's development. He attended Washington Junior High School and then John Muir Technical High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, track and field, and tennis. His older brother Mack, already an accomplished athlete, encouraged him to pursue sports.
Robinson later attended Pasadena Junior College before transferring to UCLA, where he became a standout four-sport athlete. His Pasadena years also exposed him to racial discrimination, including exclusion from some recreational opportunities. Those experiences formed part of the background to his later challenges in the Army and his historic integration of Major League Baseball.