Location:Jesse Owens was born and raised Oakville, Alabama. Growing up when Jesse Owens went to East Technical High School according to biography.com in high school, “Owens quickly made a name for himself as a nationally recognized sprinter, setting records in the 100 and 200-yard dashes as well as the long jump. After graduating, Owens enrolled at The Ohio State University, where he continued to flourish as an athlete.”
Early Life:He grew up as a child that was sick from bronchial congestion and pneumonia and had constant battles to fight his illness. In Alabama, where he lived, at a young age and even sick as he was, he would still work and pick up 100 pounds of cotton a day to help his family. Jesse Owens grandparents were former slaves and he was the son of a sharecropper. During middle school at the age of 9, Jesse Owens was called Jesse by one of his instructors when Jesse actually said J.C. That name stuck to him for the rest of his life. Jesse Owens was also known as “The Buckeye Bullet.”Jesse Owens was in the 1936 Olympic Games and Adolph Hitler and the Nazis of Germany disliked that America put African Americans in the Olympics. According to ESPN Owens has said, "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.
Contributions and Significance:Jesse Owens is important to American history because he was one of the African Americans participants in the Olympics that contributed to America’s success in the Olympics. According to ESPN he even,“crushed Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy.” And according to biography.com “He captured four gold medals (the 100 meter, the long jump, the 200 meter and the 400-meter relay), and broke two Olympic records along the way.” Jesse Owens is a history maker because within 45 minutes he completed three world records and tied another one at the same time.
Today’s Impact:This is important today because during the time of WWII he embarrassed Hitler by proving his race wasn’t superior over all races by his accomplishments. The lasting effects of these contributions are that after his death, President Bush gave Owens a Congressional Medal of Honor. According to ESPN, “Bush called his victories in Berlin ‘an unrivaled athletic triumph, but more than that, a triumph for all humanity.” And according to Indyweek, “Jesse Owens made his mark on both Olympic and world history.” Jesse Owens will go down in history for his Olympic accomplishments and as an African American. He will always be known as a successful African American who represented the United States and won them Olympic medals. He will also always be known as the African-American sprinter who proved Hitler wrong.
Why You Chose this History Maker:This person is important to me because he made an impact in history as an African-American. He was an African-American sprinter that made records in history. I was interested in his story and how he was born with sicknesses, but turned out to be in the Olympics and break records. His grandparents were also slaves and that shows his line of ancestry and that is part of history. I also chose Jesse Owens because he is a talented and successful African American man that completed many accomplishments in his life.