Behind every great man is an even greater woman. How else would that man have even gotten great without her?! This is certainly the case with the late baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, and his better half, Rachel Robinson. At 103 years old, Rachel (it feels best to call her Mrs. Rachel) remains a living bridge between baseball’s past and its progress. 

Recently, fans on social media were reminded of Mrs. Rachel with a post honoring her went viral. Comments flooded the post, celebrating the woman who helped shape one of America’s most iconic legacies.

Born Rachel Annetta Isum in 1922, this woman has witnessed baseball and the entire world transform. Rachel grew up in an integrated, middle-class neighborhood, the daughter of Zellee and Charles Isum. She later pursued nursing and education, becoming a registered nurse and rising to roles such as director of nursing. After Jackie’s death in 1972, Rachel didn’t retreat from public life, she stepped forward. She founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 1973, devoted to offering college scholarships and leadership training to underserved young people. Mrs. Rachel expanded Jackie’s legacy through activism, business, housing projects, and scholarship with the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation.

Rachel married Jackie in 1946, and their relationship was a partnership in the truest sense. After her husband famously broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947, Mrs. Rachel was right there with him through the jeers, threats, and all the unsavory history. She once reflected to Andscape that Jackie “treated me like a partner and wanted me involved.”

More than seven decades after Robinson’s bravery, forever changing America’s favorite sport, Americans are still grappling with the same racial divide that Jackie once challenged. However, baseball has slowly and surely started to look like the America Mrs. Rachel and Jackie fought for. From MLB’s recognition of Negro League statistics in 2020 to the rise of Black baseball stars like Mookie Betts and Jazz Chisholm Jr. 

As MLB players wear number 42 each April in honor of Jackie, many quietly know the truth: his courage was never a solo act. Mrs. Rachel was always there and always exemplifying dignity and determination. Her life shows that history is not something far, far away; it’s here and now, smiling and looking gorgeous at 103.