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.