Jesse Owens Accomplishments

Can you imagine embarrassing the infamous Adolf Hitler in front of the whole world? Jesse Owens did that in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not an easy road for him to get there, but he did it by putting enough effort and hard work forward. Jesse Owens was able to overcome racial judgment by surviving a poverty struck childhood, training hard in school, and by winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The two titles he is most known for is a minister and a Civil Rights activist. He has two names, one more known than the other. He was by far the most successful African American who ran for President until 2008 where Barack Obama won the First Black President. Can you guess who is? Another clue is that he is still alive. Who is he? Well, it is none other than Jesse Jackson. A man who is not only noteworthy and significant to American history , but Black history. Throughout this paper, a deeper understanding of Jesse Jackson will be discussed. Jesse Jackson's early life, education, accomplishments and contributions, and what he and his family are currently doing now.

Sarah: As Jesse Owens once said, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into a reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self discipline, and effort.” This quote is saying that before you can make your dreams come true, you must work hard and not stop until you reach your dreams. This has to do with our topic because Jesse Owens showed these traits when he was competing in the 1936 Olympics.

Not all legends are born into greatness some work hard in rough conditions to become a legend. James Francis Thorpe was born on 28 May 1888, Near present day Prague, Oklahoma ("Jim Thorpe"). With Jim’s family being a mostly Native American. Per tradition, he was given an Indian name at birth: Wa-tho-huck meaning “bright path” ("Thorpe, Jim"). Hiram and Charlotte Vieux Thorpe had 18 other children in total("Jim Thorpe"). Following the rough childhood Hiram sent Jim to Carlisle Institute, he had hoped the distance from home would help Jim (Shuman 25).

Jesse Owens changed the world by matriculated in the Olympics and showing that everyone is different and better at things than other people. Starting with shaking Hitler's hand and the Gunshot of the run, he showed the world that every race is superior in many ways. In all of the events he competed he took first in and showed that race does not matter. Although, “Jesse Owens, who smoked up to a pack of cigarettes a day for a good deal of his life, died of lung cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on March 31, 1980” (History). When he was awarded the medals he showed the world that all blacks can compete in the olyimpics.

That day he won four events, set three world records, and he tied a fourth record all in forty-five minutes. He tied the world record by running the one hundred yard dash in nine point four-seconds. He then broke a world record by jumping twenty-six feet eight and one quarter inches in the long jump. Later, he finished the two hundred twenty yard dash in twenty point three-seconds for another world record. That same day, he broke a third world record by finishing the two hundred twenty yard low hurdle race in twenty-two point six seconds.(Shwartz 1) He was so outstanding at track and field, that during his junior year of college he won every single one of the forty-two events in which he competed. Three of those events were Olympic trials for the 1936 Olympics (“About Jesse Owens” 3) guarantying that he would be going to Berlin to compete for a medal.

Owens' achievements on the track in high school were so phenomenal that he caught the attention of several Big Ten universities, including The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. It came down to which school had the best offer, and in the end, OSU’s proposal that Owens could work part-time as a freight elevator operator at the State House while training and going to classes was the winning one. After passing a series of exams that summer to qualify him to enter college (he was a few credits shy of graduating from high school), Owens started classes at OSU in the fall of 1933.

Jesse James, the notorious outlaw and alleged hero, was born September 5th, 1847, near Kearney, Missouri. He had one brother, Franklin James, and their mother was Zerelda. Their father Robert James, had left his young family to go to the California gold fields to minister. He died soon after he arrived there, and Jesse’s mother remarried quickly.

James Cleveland Owens was born in 1913 in a small town in Alabama to Henry and Emma Owens. When J.C. was eight, his parents decided to move the family to Cleveland, Ohio because Jesse's pnemonia was worsening, and their sharecropper wanted more of their money. They did not have much money, and J.C.'s father was hoping to find a better job. When they arrived in Cleveland, J.C. was enrolled in a public school. On his first day of class when the teacher asked his name, she heard Jesse, instead of J.C. He would be called Jesse from that point on.

With his success in high school, many college schools around the country recruited Jesse and wanted him come to their school. Jesse decided to go to school at the Ohio State University. At the time, Ohio State could not give track scholarships to anyone, but Jesse still wanted to go to Ohio State. This made life very hard for Jesse. Jesse was also married when he was at Ohio State so he had to find a way to make money and still be a college athlete. He tried his best to make money by working when he had time to do so

In 1979 President Carter gave Jesse Owens the Living Legend Award at the White House. Jesse set or tied national high school records in the 100 yard dash, 200-yard dash, and the long jump. After a stellar high school career, he attended Ohio State University. On May 25, 1935, at the Big Ten Conference Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Owens broke three world records (long jump, 220-yard dash and 220-yard low hurdles) and tied a fourth (100-yard dash), all in a 45 minute span. 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

“Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, on September 12th, 1913. Henry and Emma Owens, his parents, had already had twelve children before then. Three of them died at birth, and the other nine included three girls – Ida, Josephine, and Lillie – and six boys – Prentice, Johnson, Henry, Ernest, Quincy, and Sylvester” (Gigliotti 2). (insert additional fact). Since they didn’t make much money, “The entire Owens family lived in a small, unheated three-room house” (Gigliotti 3).

In 1928, when he graduated racism was still strong and alive, and the desegregation of sports was slowly beginning, but black athletes started achieving recognition especially for someone as talented and committed to achieving success as Jesse Owens was (Gale). Jesse Owens wasn’t successful just because of his talent, he was successful because of his hard work and determination. He “worked a number of jobs including elevator operator, a waiter, pumped gas, worked in the library, and served a stint as a page in the Ohio Statehouse, all of this in between practice and record setting on the field in intercollegiate competition” (JesseOwens.com). Not only did Jesse Owens work endless hours, he practiced endless hours, it’s rare to see someone with the work ethic Owens had, he clearly wanted to be successful putting all of his time and effort towards achieving it. He even broke three records in a span of forty five minutes while injured, and nearly broke a fourth (JesseOwens.com).

During the early 20th century in America, segregation not only separated African Americans from daily life but it also carried over to athletic events. The Olympics is a worldwide sporting event that today includes a diverse number of races; however, it was not always that welcoming. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens faced racial slurs and discrimination both on and off the track field. In spite of the racism, he gave African Americans hope for change by proving Adolf Hitler’s ideas of Aryan supremacy false. Owens used his athletic ability to break the social and color barrier for the U.S.

Few athletes have transcended their sports to become a symbol of an era as did Jesse Owens. Enduring a childhood marked by grinding poverty in Alabama, Owens became a star athlete in high school after his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. His achievements earned Owens several lucrative offers to attend college as a track-and-field athlete, and he enrolled at Ohio State University in 1933. On May 25, 1935, Owens made national headlines for setting five world records and tying another record at the Big Ten Intercollegiate Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although many historians consider Owens's performance that day the greatest achievement by any track-and-field athlete