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Jesse Owens wins olympic golds in 1936...
Jesse Owens wins olympic golds in 1936...
Item # 564690
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August 04, 1936
FITCHBURG DAILY SENTINEL, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, August 4, 1936
* Jesse Owens wins Olympic gold medals
* In front of Adolph Hitler & Reich
This 8 page newspaper has a one column headline on the front page that include: "Owens Beats Record for Broad Jump".
Also a two column headline on page 5 reads: "Owens Cops 100-Meter Crown As U. S. Takes Lead in Olympic Games" with photo of Owens in action. (see)
Other news of the day. Light browning, otherwise in good condition.
wikipedia notes: 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
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.
Category: The 20th Century
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