JESSE OWENS
Name: Jesse Owens
Born: 12 September 1913
Died: 31 March 1980
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980, aged 66) was
an African American track and field athlete. He participated in the 1936 Summer
Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning
four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and
as part of the 4x100 meter relay team.
James Cleveland Owens was born in Lawrence County, Alabama, in the Oakville
community, to Henry and Emma Owens. When Owens was nine, the family moved to
Cleveland, Ohio. Owens was the grandson of a slave and the son of a sharecropper.
He was often sick with what his mother reportedly called "the devil's cold". He
was given the name Jesse by a teacher in Cleveland who did not understand his
accent when the young boy said he was called J.C.
Life in the ghetto was not prosperous for the family. Owens had taken different
jobs in his spare time: He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars and worked
in a shoe repair shop. During this period Owens realized that he had a
passion for running.
Throughout his life Owens attributed the success of his athletic career to the
encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior-high track coach at Fairview Junior
High, who had put him on the track team (see also Harrison Dillard, a Cleveland
athlete inspired by Owens). Since Owens worked in a shoe repair shop after
school, Riley allowed him to practice before school instead.
Owens first came to national attention when he was a student of East Technical
High School in Cleveland, he equaled the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard
dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 ½ inches (7.56 m) at the 1933 National High
School Championship in Chicago.
Owens attended Ohio State University only after employment was found for his
father, ensuring the family could be supported. He was affectionately known as
the "Buckeye Bullet" and won a record eight individual NCAA championships, four
each in 1935 and 1936. The record of four golds at the NCAA has only been
equaled by Xavier Carter, in 2006, although his titles also included relay
medals. However, while Owens was enjoying athletic success, he had to live off
campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team,
Owens could either order carry out or eat at "black-only" restaurants. Likewise,
he slept in "black-only" hotels. Owens was never awarded a scholarship, so he
continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school.
Owens' greatest achievement came in a span of 45 minutes on May 25, 1935 at the
Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he set three world records and tied a
fourth. He equaled the world record for the 100 yard (91 m) dash (9.4 seconds)
and set world records in the long jump (26 feet 8¼ inches (8.13 m), a world
record that would last 25 years), 220 yard (201 m) dash (20.7 seconds), and the
220 yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds to become the first person to break 23
seconds). In fact, in 2005 both NBC sports announcer Bob Costas and University
of Central Florida professor of sports history Richard C. Crepeau chose this as
the most impressive athletic achievement since 1850.
Owens was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
organization established for African Americans.
In 1936 Owens arrived in Berlin to compete for the United States in the Summer
Olympics. Adolf Hitler was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi
Germany. He and other government officials had high hopes German athletes would
dominate the games with victories (the German athletes did indeed achieve a top
of the table medal haul). Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryan
racial superiority" and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior.
Owens surprised many by winning four gold medals: On August 3, 1936 he won the
100m sprint, defeating Ralph Metcalfe; on August 4, the long jump (later
crediting friendly and helpful advice from German competitor Lutz Long); on
August 5, the 200m dash; and, after he was added to the 4 x 100m relay team, his
fourth on August 9 (a performance not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals
in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics).
On the first day, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left
the stadium (some claimed this was to avoid having to shake hands with Cornelius
Johnson, who was African-American, while a Nazi spokesman claimed that Hitler's
exit had been pre-scheduled because of a previous appointment). Olympic
committee officials then insisted Hitler greet each and every medalist or none
at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.
On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and
had refused to shake his hand, Owens recounted:
Jesse Owens on the podium after winning the long jump at the 1936 Summer
Olympics
“ When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back
at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour
in Germany. ”
He also stated:
“ Hitler didn't snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even
send me a telegram. ”
Jesse Owens was never invited to the White House nor bestowed any honors by
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) or Harry S. Truman during their terms. In
1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower acknowledged Owens' accomplishments, naming
him an "Ambassador of Sports."
Owens was cheered enthusiastically by 110,000 people in Berlin's Olympic Stadium
and later ordinary Germans sought his autograph when they saw him in the streets.
Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels as whites, an irony
at the time given that blacks in the United States were denied equal rights.
After a New York ticker-tape parade in his honor, Owens had to ride the freight
elevator to attend his own reception at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Name: Jesse Owens
Born: 12 September 1913
Died: 31 March 1980
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980, aged 66) was
an African American track and field athlete. He participated in the 1936 Summer
Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning
four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and
as part of the 4x100 meter relay team.
James Cleveland Owens was born in Lawrence County, Alabama, in the Oakville
community, to Henry and Emma Owens. When Owens was nine, the family moved to
Cleveland, Ohio. Owens was the grandson of a slave and the son of a sharecropper.
He was often sick with what his mother reportedly called "the devil's cold". He
was given the name Jesse by a teacher in Cleveland who did not understand his
accent when the young boy said he was called J.C.
Life in the ghetto was not prosperous for the family. Owens had taken different
jobs in his spare time: He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars and worked
in a shoe repair shop. During this period Owens realized that he had a
passion for running.
Throughout his life Owens attributed the success of his athletic career to the
encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior-high track coach at Fairview Junior
High, who had put him on the track team (see also Harrison Dillard, a Cleveland
athlete inspired by Owens). Since Owens worked in a shoe repair shop after
school, Riley allowed him to practice before school instead.
Owens first came to national attention when he was a student of East Technical
High School in Cleveland, he equaled the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard
dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 ½ inches (7.56 m) at the 1933 National High
School Championship in Chicago.
Owens attended Ohio State University only after employment was found for his
father, ensuring the family could be supported. He was affectionately known as
the "Buckeye Bullet" and won a record eight individual NCAA championships, four
each in 1935 and 1936. The record of four golds at the NCAA has only been
equaled by Xavier Carter, in 2006, although his titles also included relay
medals. However, while Owens was enjoying athletic success, he had to live off
campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team,
Owens could either order carry out or eat at "black-only" restaurants. Likewise,
he slept in "black-only" hotels. Owens was never awarded a scholarship, so he
continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school.
Owens' greatest achievement came in a span of 45 minutes on May 25, 1935 at the
Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he set three world records and tied a
fourth. He equaled the world record for the 100 yard (91 m) dash (9.4 seconds)
and set world records in the long jump (26 feet 8¼ inches (8.13 m), a world
record that would last 25 years), 220 yard (201 m) dash (20.7 seconds), and the
220 yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds to become the first person to break 23
seconds). In fact, in 2005 both NBC sports announcer Bob Costas and University
of Central Florida professor of sports history Richard C. Crepeau chose this as
the most impressive athletic achievement since 1850.
Owens was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter
organization established for African Americans.
In 1936 Owens arrived in Berlin to compete for the United States in the Summer
Olympics. Adolf Hitler was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi
Germany. He and other government officials had high hopes German athletes would
dominate the games with victories (the German athletes did indeed achieve a top
of the table medal haul). Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryan
racial superiority" and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior.
Owens surprised many by winning four gold medals: On August 3, 1936 he won the
100m sprint, defeating Ralph Metcalfe; on August 4, the long jump (later
crediting friendly and helpful advice from German competitor Lutz Long); on
August 5, the 200m dash; and, after he was added to the 4 x 100m relay team, his
fourth on August 9 (a performance not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals
in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics).
On the first day, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left
the stadium (some claimed this was to avoid having to shake hands with Cornelius
Johnson, who was African-American, while a Nazi spokesman claimed that Hitler's
exit had been pre-scheduled because of a previous appointment). Olympic
committee officials then insisted Hitler greet each and every medalist or none
at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.
On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and
had refused to shake his hand, Owens recounted:
Jesse Owens on the podium after winning the long jump at the 1936 Summer
Olympics
“ When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back
at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour
in Germany. ”
He also stated:
“ Hitler didn't snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even
send me a telegram. ”
Jesse Owens was never invited to the White House nor bestowed any honors by
Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) or Harry S. Truman during their terms. In
1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower acknowledged Owens' accomplishments, naming
him an "Ambassador of Sports."
Owens was cheered enthusiastically by 110,000 people in Berlin's Olympic Stadium
and later ordinary Germans sought his autograph when they saw him in the streets.
Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels as whites, an irony
at the time given that blacks in the United States were denied equal rights.
After a New York ticker-tape parade in his honor, Owens had to ride the freight
elevator to attend his own reception at the Waldorf-Astoria.