[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN MEMORY OF MATTHEW ``MACK'' ROBINSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ADAM SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 6, 2001

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, the Pasadena branch of the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People is celebrating its 
18th Annual Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Banquet on March 8, 2001 and 
I would like to join in honoring the memory of a famed Pasadena native 
son, Matthew ``Mack'' Robinson.
  Mack Robinson was a world-class athlete. Competing in the 1936 Summer 
Olympics in Berlin, Germany, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter 
run, crossing the finish line just a step behind that great Olympian, 
Jesse Owens. Mack's roots in Pasadena ran deep. He was a track star at 
Pasadena City College in 1938, the same year his younger brother, 
future Dodgers' great Jackie Robinson, lettered there in four sports. 
Mack set national junior college records in the 100- and 200-meter runs 
and in the long jump. When the Olympic games were held in Los Angeles 
in 1984, Mack helped carry the Olympic flag into Los Angeles Memorial 
Coliseum. He cared deeply for his community and, later in life, was 
renowned for leading the fight against street crime in Pasadena.
  One of Mack's great causes was ensuring a monument was built in his 
hometown to honor his brother, the man who in 1947 broke major league 
baseball's color barrier. The Pasadena Robinson Memorial, honoring both 
brothers, was dedicated in 1997. Pasadena City College last year 
renamed its stadium to honor the pioneering brothers and Congress last 
year approved naming the post office at 600 Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena, 
California, as the ``Matthew `Mack' Robinson Post Office Building.''
  Sadly, Mack died at the age of 88 in Pasadena on March 12, 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, I join the Pasadena NAACP in saluting Mack Robinson for 
the shining example he presented in sports and in life. Mack Robinson 
was truly a champion in all he did.

                          ____________________