branch rickey
Each year in our One Book, One Firm program, we select a book relating to diversity and inclusion and encourage everyone in the firm to read and discuss it. In this the seventh year of the program, our One Book, One Firm selection is Branch Rickey, by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jimmy Breslin. Branch Rickey, a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, brought many innovations to the game of baseball, including the farm system. Breslin’s short, easy to read biography tells the story of Rickey’s role in breaking the color barrier in Major League baseball.
Rickey’s commitment to integrate Major League Baseball grew out of an incident involving Charles Thomas, a African American teammate of Rickey’s on the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team. Rickey would remember that incident for years, eventually deciding to do something about the injustice he saw. Years before Jackie Robinson would ultimately join Rickey’s Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey committed to integrating Major League baseball. He began scouting Negro League baseball teams to find a player with the talent and the character to break the color barrier. In Robinson, he found the perfect man and together they changed America’s game. One Book, One Firm Luncheon, Tuesday, July 8 Join us a for a discussion of this year’s One Book, One Firm selection. The program will be held in the University Club in Grand Rapids and broadcast to each of our offices. More details to follow. |