Sugar Ray Robinson in 1989. In 2006 he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service. Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in Ailey, Georgia, to Walker Smith Sr. and Leila Hurst. Robinson was the youngest of three children; his eldest sister Marie was born in 1917 and his other sister Evelyn was born in 1919. His father was a cotton, peanut, and corn farmer in Georgia, who moved the family to Detroit where he initially found work in construction. According to Robinson, Smith Sr. later worked two jobs to support his family—cement mixer and sewer worker. "He had
Gertrude Robinson Smith Steele. She was born in New York City on July 13, 1881. Her father was a prosperous corporate lawyer and director of Allied Chemical. Her father was an active member of the New York Bar Association and was active in helping to write what is today's corporate law. After World War I, Charles Robinson Smith wrote many articles advocating the forgiveness of war debts for which he received the French Legion of Honor. Other material relates primarily to United States Tax laws. Her mother was the child of wealthy American parents and raised primarily in Paris. She had two sibling,