MLB helps restore vandalized plaque at Jackie Robinson's birthplace

A vandalized historical plaque commemorating the former site of Jackie Robinson's birthplace has been replaced, with Major League Baseball's assistance, according to the New York Times' James Wagner.

The original plaque - first erected in 2001 at the site just outside Cairo, Georgia - was found riddled with bullet holes last February. The memorial was one of several defaced historical markers commemorating Black Georgians.

MLB stepped up to help fund the replacement marker after the Georgia Historical Society contacted the league, which then donated $40,000 - enough to pay for both a new marker at the actual site of Robinson's birthplace, which is now a forest, and a second marker in downtown Cairo.

"We want to make sure it's something that stands forever," league vice president of social responsibility April Brown told Wagner. "Sometimes people do look at things as, 'Oh, it's just a physical signage.' But what it represents is how we can empower the community and audiences around social justice and to empower and lift up those who fought for rights for all."

The new plaques were officially installed this week and rededicated in a ceremony on Friday. Robinson's cousin Linda Walden, who lives in Cairo and owns the property on which the monument sits, was among those in attendance.

Meanwhile, the vandalized plaque is being donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, according to Wagner.

Born in Cairo on Jan. 31, 1919, Robinson only spent a year of his life in the town. After his father abandoned the family in 1920, his mother moved the family to Pasadena, California.

Robinson broke MLB's color line when he suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962, and his No. 42 is now retired by all 30 clubs.