Jackie Robinson to JFK in 1963 telegram: Rev. King needs more protection in Miss.

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Jackie RobinsonOn June 15, 1963, Jackie Robinson sent a telegram to President John F. Kennedy urging him do everything within his power to protect Martin Luther King Jr.

"The world cannot afford to lose him to the whims of murderous maniacs," Robinson said in the telegram. At the time, King was in Mississippi for the funeral of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was shot and killed three days earlier. Evers played an important role in the desegregation of the University of Mississippi.

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