Pasadena’s Civic Center, built in the 1920s, is a reflection of the great wealth and local pride that have governed the city since its early days. Highlights include the Spanish Renaissance–style City Hall and the Central Library . Nearby, the Jackie & Mack Robinson Memorial honors the Georgia-born, but Pasadena-reared athletic brothers.
The often overshadowed Matthew ‘Mack’ Robinson was a former world-record holder who won an Olympic silver in the 200m sprint in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (he finished 0.4 seconds behind Jesse Owens). In 1945 his youngest brother, Jackie, became the first African American to be signed to a major-league baseball team. He became a perennial all-star, World Series champion, and hall-of-famer for the Brooklyn (now LA) Dodgers.
