Finally in 1945, Branch Rickey, a member of the Major League Committee on Baseball Integration, searched the national and international baseball scene. He was looking for the best player candidate to break the color line in Major League Baseball. His perfect candidate turned out to be Jackie Robinson. It has been suggested that Robinson wasn’t the first player to break through the color barrier; that there were others before him. While there may be some truth to that, Jackie Robinson will always be remembered as the player who started to change the public’s attitude toward segregation.

Today, there’s a concerted effort to remember the past. In February 2006, a special 12-member panel was convened to start the electoral process of inducting players from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Although so many players of color never participated in Major League Baseball, the greats are starting to be officially recognized for their athletic achievements.