James Cleveland Owens was born in Oakland, Alabama, on September 12, 1913. His ancestors had been slaves, and his parents were poor sharecroppers. James helped his family by picking cotton from the fields. By age seven, he was expected to pick one hundred pounds a day. Besides the hard working hours, James got sick with pneumonia often and came close to death a couple of times.

JESSE

James and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was nine years old. His new teacher asked him what his name was and he said J.C., which were his initials. The teacher misunderstood him and wrote down Jesse. The name stuck.

DREAMS

Jesse began dreaming of being in the Olympics some day when he met Charley Paddock, an Olympic champion. Even though Jesse was only 13 years old, he already had an after school job. This meant that he could not practice with the track team, but he got help from the coach in the morning before school.

PRACTICE

Jesse Owens continued to practice track all the way to high school (which was East Technical High School). His coach told him to concentrate on 3 things: dedication, determination, and discipline. He became the star sprinter at his school through practice and the 3 techniques his coach gave him. Not only did Jesse have the patience to practice and make mistakes, but he also had the body. Weighing 163 pounds, muscular and quick, he was a natural runner.

All through college(Ohio State University), Jesse continued track. In 1935, he went to the Big Ten university championship. Here, he matched the world record of 9.4 seconds in the broad jump (long jump), and broke world records in the 220-yard low hurdles and 220-yard dash.

In 1936, Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany. He felt that only white Christians in and around Germany (called Aryans), were fit for living. Everyone else was persecuted. When Berlin was chosen as the site for the Olympics, many Americans did not want to be involved. American officials finally decided to go ahead and participate.

Adolf had his own private viewing box to watch the Olympic games. People shouted, "Heil Hitler!" whenever he came into site. Hitler and his party, the Nazis, made fun of the American Track Team because it had 10 blacks and 2 Jews.

OLYMPICS

The American team did very well, however, and won several gold medals. Owens won gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and broad jump. He set a world record in the 200-meter race. He also helped the American team set a world record in the relay race. Jesse Owens was called the "Buckeye Bullet."

When Jesse got home from the Olympics, he decided to settle down with his wife and children. He worked as a playground instructor and ran races against cars, motorcycles, and dogs. During other Olympic games, he helped organize and coach teams. He stayed in touch with all the friends he made in Germany during the 1936 Olympic games. He described his work as an honest way to make a living and a way to get food.

Jesse wrote an autobiography and spoke about civil rights. He also received the Medal of Freedom, which is the highest peacetime honor a citizen can receive. He was given this medal by President Gerald Ford.

Unfortunately, Owens had smoked cigarettes all of his life and died of lung cancer in 1980, at age 66. He was a proud man...proud that his children could read about his accomplishments in their history books. He will always be remembered as a great track and field star and a great role model.

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