Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Robinson was elected in his first year of eligibility, joining pitcher Bob Feller as one of the first two players elected on their first ballot since the Hall of Fame’s inaugural voting in 1936. His election recognized both his outstanding playing career and his historic role in breaking Major League Baseball’s modern color barrier.
The induction ceremony took place on July 23, 1962, in Cooperstown, New York. Robinson entered alongside Bob Feller, Bill McKechnie, and Edd Roush. He received 124 of 160 votes, or 77.5 percent of the ballots cast.
A common mix-up is confusing Robinson’s Hall of Fame year with 1947, when he became the first African American player in the modern major leagues, or 1997, when MLB retired his number 42 throughout professional baseball. Robinson died in 1972, a decade after his induction.