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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal
Recipient Jesse Owens
James Cleveland Owens (September 12, 1913 - March 31, 1980) was an
African American athlete and civic leader. He was most famous for his participation in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany where he put the lie to Adolf Hitler's claims of German "Aryan superiority" by winning four gold medals and becoming the star of the games. He was born in Oakville, Alabama and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He was given the name Jesse by a Cleveland teacher who did not understand his accent when he said his initials were J.C.
Jesse Owens In a span of 45 minutes on May 25, 1935 at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan he set world records in the long jump, 220-yard dash, and the 220-yard low hurdles and tied the record for the 100-yard dash. He won gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump, and as a member of the 4 x 100-meter relay team. This feat was not equaled until Carl Lewis in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Olympic victories had particular savor because Adolf Hitler had intended to use the games to promote "Aryan superiority". A persistent myth has grown up that Hitler, who had criticized
African American athletes as "black auxiliaries" and "non-humans", was in the stadium for some of Owens' events but had refused to acknowledge him after his remarkable performances. In fact Hitler was absent on the days in question and the German athletes and German public welcomed and praised Owens, just like everyone else. After the games, he had difficulty making a living, however, and became a sports promoter, essentially promoting himself. He would give local sprinters ten or twenty yards start and still beat them in the 100 yd dash. He also challenged and defeated racehorses, although he revealed later that the trick was to race a high-strung thoroughbred horse that would be frightened by the starter's pistol and give him a good jump. His promotion work eventually turned into a career in public relations, including a long stint as a popular jazz disc jockey in Chicago. He was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 by
Gerald Ford and the
Congressional Gold Medal by George H. W. Bush posthumously on March 28, 1990. In 1984, a street in Berlin was renamed in his honor. All his life he attributed his career to the encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior-high track coach, who had picked him off the playground and put him on the track team. (See Harrison Dillard, a Cleveland athlete inspired by Owens.) Owens, a pack-a-day smoker for 35 years, died of lung cancer at age 66 in Tucson, Arizona. 1988 Jesse Owens In 1935, Jesse Owens broke three world records within 70 minutes. He won four Olympic gold medals for running at the Berlin Games the next year (1936), and set a world record in the 100-yard dash. He has received awards and honors from all over the world. This medal recognizes his "athletic achievements and humanitarian contributions to public service, civil rights, and international goodwill."
Remarks at the Posthumous Presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to Jesse Owens March 28, 1990 The President. Well, this is so nice. And I was just telling Mrs. Owens I'm sorry Barbara is not here and that we view this as a very special occasion. But to Congressman Stokes and Senator Metzenbaum and then friends and teammates of the legendary Jesse Owens, welcome, all of you, to the White House. It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the White House to honor a man who really honored his own nation -- Olympic hero and an American hero every day of his life. Jesse Owens was born with the gift of burning speed, and he took that God-given talent and developed it through years of training. And he was always the fastest. One afternoon in 1935 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he set three world records and tied a fourth -- all in 45 minutes. You talk about a young guy in a hurry -- well, I think maybe that was -- [laughter] -- he was the epitome of that. As an 18-year-old in 1933, he won the city of Cleveland championship -- the 100-yard dash in 9.4, tying the world record while still in high school. He burst onto the world scene in 1936, and I think every American that studies history remembers this -- the 1936 Olympics, Hitler's Olympic games, the last Olympics before the outbreak of the Second World War. And the Berlin games were to be the showcase of Hitler's theories on the superiority of the master race until this 23-year-old kid named Jesse Owens dashed to victory in the 100-, the 200-, and the 400-meter relay. It was an unrivaled athletic triumph. But more than that, it really was a triumph for all humanity. And Jesse Owens returned to this nation a hero, a household name, billed as the fastest man on Earth. But it's what he did after the spectacular performance of the Berlin games that earned him the enduring gratitude of all Americans. Jesse dedicated himself to upholding the Olympic ideal of sportsmanship and the American ideals of fair play, hard work, and open competition. And I know that his friend and fellow Clevelander, Harrison Dillard -- now, which is Harrison? Right here, right behind you -- Harrison Dillard, right here today. In 1941, at the Ohio State high school track championship, Harrison's idol, Jesse Owens -- you correct me if I'm wrong, now -- gave him a new pair of track shoes. And that day, Harrison Dillard won two State titles in those new shoes. And 7 years later, as we all remember, he brought home the gold medal at the 1948 Olympics in Jesse's event, that 100-meter dash, in the first games held since those Berlin games. Jesse's example and influence extended to Olympians like Harrison Dillard and to all other athletes across the country, and he became a special ambassador for sports -- a man who taught the ideals that I just mentioned were the key to success not just on the athletic field but in the game of life. And that legacy lives today through the Jesse Owens Games, a playground olympics open to kids from 8 to 15 years old all across our country; through the Jesse Owens International Trophy Award, presented each year to the best amateur athlete in America; and of course, through the Jesse Owens Foundation, which enables talented young people who can't afford college to fulfill that dream and get a degree. And I know it's a point of pride to Ruth Owens that the Jesse Owens Scholarships are awarded without regard to race, creed, or color. And it's that legacy that we celebrate here today. And we remember Jesse Owens not only as the first athlete in Olympic history to win four gold medals. Today, 10 years since the passing of this great hero, it's my honor to add to Jesse Owens' collection a fifth gold medal -- this one, as Ruth Owens said on Capitol Hill, for his humanitarian contributions in the race of life. Mrs. Owens, it is with great pride and in honor of your late husband and his lasting achievements that I present to you this
Congressional Gold Medal, the Jesse Owens Congressional Gold Medal. And we're just delighted you came here to receive it.
Mrs. Owens. Mr. President, thank you so very much for this honor. Like your predecessors, President Ford, President Carter, who have recognized Jesse for his many contributions. Jesse achieved the unique distinction of being a legend in his own time. Despite the many honors, his greatest satisfaction came from his work with youth. Jesse's work with youth is now carried on through, as you mentioned, the Jesse Owens Foundation, the ARCO [Atlantic Richfield Co.] Jesse Owens Games, and the International Amateur Athletic Association, spearheaded by Herb Douglas. On behalf of the youth he still inspires, and on behalf of my family, we thank you. Note: The President spoke at 11:50 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
Owens pierced a myth By Larry Schwartz
ESPN.com
For most athletes, Jesse Owens' performance one spring afternoon in 1935 would be the accomplishment of a lifetime. In 45 minutes, he established three world records and tied another.
Owens won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics. But that was merely an appetizer for Owens. In one week in the summer of 1936, on the sacred soil of the Fatherland, the master athlete humiliated the master race. Owens' story is one of a high-profile sports star making a statement that transcended athletics, spilling over into the world of global politics. Berlin, on the verge of World War II, was bristling with Nazism, red-and-black swastikas flying everywhere. Brown-shirted Storm Troopers goose-stepped while Adolf Hitler postured, harangued, threatened. A montage of evil was played over the chillingly familiar Nazi anthem: "Deutschland Uber Alles." This was the background for the 1936 Olympics. When Owens finished competing, the African-American son of a sharecropper and the grandson of slaves had single-handedly crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. He gave four virtuoso performances, winning gold medals in the 100- and 200- meter dashes, the long jump and on America's 4x100 relay team. Score it: Owens 4, Hitler 0. A remarkably even-keeled and magnanimous human being, Owens never rubbed it in. Just as sure as he knew fascism was evil, he also knew his country had a ways to go too in improving life for
African Americans. "When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus," Owens said. "I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either." Owens wasn't complaining. That wasn't his style. He believed it was his job "to try to make things better." Born James Cleveland Owens on Sept. 12, 1913, in Oakville, Ala., he was often ill as a child, suffering from both chronic bronchial congestion and several bouts of pneumonia. Inadequate housing, food and clothing didn't help his health. By the age of seven he was expected to pick 100 pounds of cotton a day. At nine his family moved to Cleveland. When a teacher asked his name, he answered, "J.C.," which is what he was called. The teacher misunderstood his Southern drawl and the name was Jesse from then on. As a teenager he set or tied national high school records in the 100- and 220-yard dashes and the long jump (called the broad jump then). At Ohio State, he was not a good student but he was easily the swiftest on the track. Two weeks before the 1935 Big Ten Championships, Owens was involved in some playful hi-jinks with his roommates. But the prank backfired and he slipped on water during his getaway, severely injuring his tailbone. On May 25 in Ann Arbor, Mich., Owens couldn't even bend over to touch his knees. But as the sophomore settled in for his first race, he said the pain "miraculously disappeared." 3:15 -- The "Buckeye Bullet" ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds to tie the world record. 3:25 -- In his only long jump, he leaped 26-8 1/4, a world record that would last 25 years. 3:34 -- His 20.3 seconds bettered the world record in the 220-yard dash. 4:00 -- With his 22.6 seconds in the 220-yard low hurdles, he became the first person to break 23 seconds in the event. Some credit Owens with setting five world records, saying he also beat the marks for the shorter 200 meters and 200-meter low hurdles. In his junior year at Ohio State, Owens competed in 42 events and won them all, including four in the Big Ten Championships, four in the NCAA Championships, two in the AAU Championships and three at the Olympic Trials. In Germany, the Nazis portrayed African-Americans as inferior and ridiculed the United States for relying on "black auxiliaries." One German official even complained that the Americans were letting "non-humans, like Owens and other Negro athletes," compete. But the German people felt otherwise. Crowds of 110,000 cheered him in Berlin's glittering Olympic Stadium and his autograph or picture was sought as he walked the streets. On Aug. 3, the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Owens won his first final, taking the 100 meters in 10.3, edging out Ralph Metcalfe, also an African-American. The next day, Owens was almost out of the long jump shortly after qualifying began. He fouled on his first two jumps, though he was stunned when officials counted a practice run down the runway and into the pit as an attempt. With one jump remaining, Luz Long, a tall, blue-eyed, blond German long jumper who was his stiffest competition, introduced himself. He suggested that Owens make a mark several inches before the takeoff board and jump from there to play it safe. Owens took the advice, and qualified. In the finals that afternoon, Long's fifth jump matched Owens' 25-10. But Owens leaped 26-3 on his next attempt and won the gold medal with a final jump of 26-5. The first to congratulate the Olympic record holder was Long, who looked like the model Nazi but wasn't. "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler," Owens said. "You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II." Owens, though, would continue to correspond with Long's family. In the 200-meter dash on August 5, Owens won in an Olympic record of 20.7 seconds, beating out Mack Robinson, the older brother of
Jackie Robinson. That was supposed to be the end of Owens' Olympic participation. But from out of the blue, Owens and Metcalfe replaced Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, the only Jews on the U.S. track team, on the 4x100-meter relay. The rumor was that the Nazi hierarchy had asked U.S. officials not to humiliate Germany further by using two Jews to add to the gold medals the African-Americans already had won. Glickman blamed U.S. Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage for acquiescing to the Nazis. On August 9, the 4x100 relay team, with Owens running leadoff, won by 15 yards and its world-record time of 39.8 seconds would last 20 years. Upon Owens' return to New York and a ticker-tape parade, he had to ride the freight elevator to a reception in his honor at the Waldorf-Astoria. He was treated as a kind of curiosity. When endorsements didn't come his way, he made money by, among other activities, running against horses and dogs. "People said it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do?" Owens said. "I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals." Not until the fifties did he achieve financial security, becoming a public speaker for corporations and opening a public-relations firm. In a 1950 Associated Press poll, he was voted the greatest track and field star for the first half of century, outpolling Jim Thorpe by almost three to one. In 1976, President Ford presented Owens with the
Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the U.S. can bestow upon a civilian. Owens, a-pack-a-day smoker for 35 years, died of lung cancer at age 66 on March 31, 1980 in Tucson, Ariz. Four years later, a street in Berlin was renamed in his honor. A decade after his death, President Bush posthumously awarded Owens the Congressional Medal of Honor. Bush called his victories in Berlin "an unrivaled athletic triumph, but more than that, a triumph for all humanity."
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