Richard Zamoff ’61

Richard Zamoff ’61, GSAS ’63 grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. But rather than rooting for the Bronx Bombers, as most of their neighbors did, Zamoff ’s family cheered on a different team, for a very specific reason.

“My family made certain that if my brother and I were going to be baseball fans, it was going to be connected to Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers,” Zamoff says. “My parents made sure I knew that he was much more than a baseball player.”

Zamoff ’s allegiance also set the stage for his career as a sociologist. As the founder of the Jackie Robinson Project, he educates the public on the life and legacy of Robinson beyond his accomplishments as the first Black player in modern Major League Baseball. Initially based at The George Washington University (GW), Zamoff has given JRP presentations across the country about Robinson’s activism in the Civil Rights movement.

“There are many social scientists today who will argue that he’s the single best example of sports’ power to effect change, and I think that’s true,” Zamoff says.

Founded in 1996 when Zamoff was a professor at GW, the JRP has presented to almost 19,000 students. Zamoff has also taught more than 1,000 GW students in his course on Robinson, and many became involved in the project as it created exhibitions, books and other educational materials.

The JRP is now based in Clearwater, Fla., at the Tampa Bay International School, where Zamoff teaches elementary and middle schoolers about Robinson and civil rights history.

One of the best illustrations of Robinson’s legacy beyond baseball, Zamoff says, comes from Martin Luther King Jr., who called him a “freedom rider before freedom rides, a sit-inner before sit-ins.” Robinson used his star status to create financial and housing opportunities for Black communities, raise bail money for jailed activists and write letters to four American Presidents advocating for civil rights causes.

“I’m absolutely convinced that if Robinson were alive today, his agenda would be very limited on sports,” Zamoff says. “But it would be very extensive on voter suppression, gun violence and all the other issues that are front and center in American society.”

— Emily Driehaus