In the countryside of southwestern Georgia, roughly two miles north of the Florida border, in a small clearing of trees alongside Route 154, a brick chimney stands alone. An accompanying historical marker notes that the house that once stood there burned down in 1996. It’s all that remains of the place where one of the most important figures in American history was born.
Jackie Robinson grew up in Pasadena, Calif., where his family relocated in 1920 when he was 18 months old. He was a four-sport star at U.C.L.A. and bounced around the country in the Army.