Jackie Robinson marker shot at in Grady County

CAIRO, Ga. (WCTV) - The Georgia Historical Society says a historical marker recognizing the birthplace of Jackie Robinson in Grady County has been vandalized.

Georgia Historical Marker commemorating "The Birthplace of Jackie Robinson" vandalized in South Georgia. Read the AJC exclusive here.
Posted by Georgia Historical Society on Tuesday, February 23, 2021

GHS says the marker was “struck multiple times by gunfire”.

“I was distressed to learn about the desecration of the Jackie Robinson marker, just as I was saddened last summer when I learned about the repeated vandalism of the marker recognizing the lynching of Mary Turner,” said GHS Board member Erroll B. Davis, Jr. in a press release. “Jackie Robinson was a pioneer in the integration of Major League Baseball and someone whose accomplishments should bring pride to all Americans. This is a shameful act of vandalism that unfortunately has been carried out against several other markers that commemorate Civil Rights figures, in Georgia and beyond.”

The marker was erected in 2001 by GHS and the Jackie Robinson Cairo Memorial Institute, Inc.