Gladiator Sports Classroom

Black History


Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Rudolph was born with the odds stacked against her. She was born premature into a large family at a time when African-American babies were denied access to the best doctors and hospitals. As a child, she was sick with a long list of diseases including pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her left leg partially deformed.

Despite all of these obstacles, Wilma Rudolph grew up to achieve a list of accomplishments longer than the list of her childhood ailments.

Her family helped her by massaging her legs and driving her to therapy. Their encouragement paid off, because at age nine, young Wilma shocked everyone by taking off her braces and walking. By age 11, she was playing basketball at school, where her coach gave her the nickname "Skeeter" because, as he said, "you're little and fast and always in my way." She was a basketball star, who set the state record for the most points scored in a high school game.

When the track coach at Tennessee State University saw Wilma play basketball, he knew he wanted her to run for his team. He became her mentor, her teacher and guide. As a high school student, she never lost a track meet. Wilma began attending college practices while still in high school. When she was just 16, she competed in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and her team won the bronze medal in the 4x100-meter relay.

Wilma continued to train, and four years later, the Olympics were held again, and Wilma was the star in Rome, Italy. She became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics, winning the 100- and 200-meter races and the 4x100-meter relay. She was so fast, people used to say that if you blinked, you would miss her.

After the Olympics, Wilma was an international star. Fans from around the world wanted to watch this elegant sprinter. She was mobbed by crowds in Greece, England, the Netherlands and Germany.

When she went home to Tennessee, the governor wanted to have a victory parade for her, but Wilma said she would not attend unless blacks and whites were able to go together. Her parade was the first integrated event held in her hometown of Clarksville.

For the rest of her life, Wilma continued to promote athletics. She created the Wilma Rudolph Foundation to help young athletes, worked as a track coach at DePauw University in Indiana and served as a goodwill ambassador to West Africa. She was voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Black Athletes Hall of Fame. A television movie was made about her life in 1977.

Wilma died of brain cancer in 1994 at the age of 54. Fans and friends around the world remember not just her amazing speed, but also her kindness, generosity and grace.

Name a sickness Wilma Rudolph suffered as a child.


What was Wilma's nickname?


What does "mentor" mean? Name someone who is a mentor to you.


How old was Wilma when she first won an Olympic medal?


How many gold medals did Wilma win?



Mary Jane McLeod Bethune

Born in South Carolina as the child of former slaves, Mary learned the value of hard work and dedication. Her parents instilled in her the belief that education is a gateway to success. A young woman of strong faith, she received a scholarship to North Carolina's Scotia Seminary, which was devoted to the education of African-American women. After graduating in 1894, she pursued her dreams at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.

Shortly after returning to the South in 1896, Mary began her career as a teacher. She opened the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904 in Florida, where she served as the school's president for nearly 40 years. Mary was determined to provide educational opportunities for African-American students. Under her leadership, the school merged with the Cookman Institute for men in 1923 and witnessed its rebirth as the present-day Bethune-Cookman College.

Mary became an active voice on behalf of both women and African Americans. She began the National Council of Negro Women in 1935 and served in various positions to further the rights of African Americans. She received a high honor in 1936, when President Franklin Roosevelt appointed her as head of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, the highest government position then held by a woman. Her educational and political accomplishments were widely recognized and she received many awards. Mary died on May 18, 1955 and 30 years later, she was honored with a postage stamp in her name. A Los Angeles middle school is also named in her memory.
 
 
 
 

What was Mary's dream as a child?

Name a school Mary attended.

What was Mary's job after graduating from college?

How many years did Mary serve as president of the school she founded?

Who gave Mary an appointment in 1936?




Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Virginia in 1856. He was seven years old when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves. He was too poor to go to school, so he worked at a salt furnace and a coal mine to support his family, but Booker's dream was to get an education. At age 16 he traveled 500 miles, often by walking, to enroll at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. He arrived with only 50 cents in his pocket. The institute gave him a job as a janitor to pay for school, and he later became a teacher.

When Booker was 25 years old he became the president of a new school for African American students at Tuskegee, a place with two small buildings, no equipment, and very little money. Booker spent the rest of his life improving the school. When he died, the Tuskegee Institute boasted 100 buildings, 1,500 students, a variety of programs and $2 million.

During Booker's lifetime, many African Americans were former slaves who did not have an education. Booker's goal was to provide African Americans with opportunities to learn vocational skills and obtain an education. He thought former slaves would gain acceptance through education and financial independence.

Although not everyone agreed with Booker, he became a respected leader who helped many schools and institutions gain donations and support from the government and donors.

Booker also visited President Theodore Roosevelt in the White House in 1901. After their meeting, the President invited Booker to eat dinner with him, which made Booker the first African American to dine with a President at the White House.

Booker's leadership earned him honorary degrees from Harvard University and Dartmouth College. He wrote several books, including his autobiography, Up from Slavery, which was translated into several languages.


What was Booker T. Washington's dream?

Where did Booker go to school?


 

What did Booker believe was the key to a better life for former slaves?

Why was Booker's visit to the White House significant?

What was the name of Booker's autobiography?


 

Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens is perhaps the best-remembered Olympic star of all time. He is famous for his world-record success in the 1936 Olympics in the face of racial discrimination.

Jesse, whose full name was James Cleveland Owens, grew up poor and sickly. Born in Alabama, he moved to Cleveland with his family when he was eight. When the teacher asked his name on the first day of school, he answered “J.C.,” which is what he was called. She misunderstood, called him Jesse, and the name stuck.

In order to help his parents pay the bills, Jesse worked in his spare time, delivering groceries, loading trucks and other odd jobs in Cleveland. One day in gym class, the students were asked to race. Everyone noticed Jesse’s speed, and Coach Charlie Riley made a special exception to coach Jesse in the mornings so he could work and help support his family in the afternoons.

By high school, Jesse was a track star. He set the world record in the 100-yard dash as a senior, and many colleges and universities recruited him. He chose Ohio State University, where he continued his amazing career. Jesse’s performance at the 1935 Big Ten Championships was legendary: despite being injured, Jesse set multiple world records.

Jesse's record-breaking performances made him a favorite for the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in 1936. At that time, Germany was ruled by the powerful dictator Adolph Hitler, whose beliefs in racial supremacy and destructive actions led to World War II. European newspapers insulted Jesse and the other 11 African-Americans competing on America's 66-member Olympic track and field team.

Jesse Owens and other great black and Jewish athletes proved Hitler wrong. Jesse won four gold medals at that Olympics, in the 100-meters sprint, the 200-meter sprint, the long jump and the 400-meter relay, setting two Olympic records and one world record. His long jump record would last for 25 years. The son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave had shown that hard work, talent and determination made champions. The German spectators gave Owens a standing ovation.

When Jesse returned to the United States, he was celebrated with a New York ticker tape parade, and many honors. However, he did not enjoy the endorsements and financial rewards received by some of today's Olympic champions. Jesse spent the next 20 years running races for money, making public appearances, speaking, travelling and opening a public relations firm. He worked very hard to make enough money to provide for his parents, children and other family. Owens, who married his childhood sweetheart Ruth Solomon in 1935, also founded the Jesse Owens Foundation, that continues to be run by his widow Ruth and daughter Marlene. Jesse died in 1980 of cancer in Tucson, Arizona.
 
 

What was Jesse's nickname as a child?

Where did he move when he was eight?

Who was the dictator who led Germany in 1936?

How many gold medals did Jesse win at the Olympics?

Name one job Jesse had as a young man.