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WritingHow did Jesse Owens teach the world about grit, humility, and dignity? Write a paragraph to share with your class.

Social Studies Make a timeline of the important events in Jesse Owens’s life. Write an explanation of why each of the events was significant.

Connections

Jesse OwensA Reading A–Z Level T Leveled Book

Word Count: 1,188

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LEVELED BOOK • T

Written by Susan Lennox

Jesse Owens

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Who was Jesse Owens, and what obstacles did he overcome?

Focus Question

Written by Susan Lennox

Jesse Owens

Words to Know

athletes determination dignity discrimination grit

Olympic racist sharecropper track

CorrelationLEVEL T

P3838

Fountas & PinnellReading Recovery

DRA

Jesse OwensLevel T Leveled Book© Learning A–ZWritten by Susan Lennox

All rights reserved.

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Cover: Jesse Owens at the start of the 200m race at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin Title page: Jesse Owens returns to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, after his 1936 Olympic success.Page 3: Jesse Owens sets an Olympic record for the long jump in Berlin at the 1936 Olympic Games.

Photo Credits:Front cover: © The Print Collector/Getty Images; title page: © Austrian Archives/Imagno/Getty Images; pages 3, 4 (right), 7, 10 (top): © Bettmann/ Getty Images; pages 4 (left), 6: © New York Times Co./Getty Images; page 8: © J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images; page 9 (top): © DHM/ullstein bild/Getty Images; pages 9 (bottom), 13, 15 (bottom): © AP Images; page 10 (bottom): © ullstein bild/Getty Images; page 12: © Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images; page 14: © Charles Payne/NY Daily News/Getty Images; page 15 (top): © Bob Thomas/Getty Images

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Table of Content

The Fastest Kid in School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The “Buckeye Bullet” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The 1936 Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Back in the States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

A Champion for All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Jesse Owens • Level T 4

The Fastest Kid in School

In 1921, a shy nine-year-old boy took his seat in a Cleveland, Ohio, classroom. The teacher smiled as she asked him his name.

“J. C. Owens,” he replied.

The teacher misunderstood and added “Jesse Owens” to her class list. That day, James Cleveland Owens became Jesse. Years later, Jesse would become one of the greatest track and field athletes of the twentieth century. He would also teach the world about grit, humility, and dignity.

High school student Jesse Owens won three events at a 1933 national track and field championship in Chicago, Illinois (main). Owens shows his mother the medals he won there (inset).

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James Cleveland Owens was born in 1913 . He was the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave. Young Jesse worked picking cotton in the fields of Alabama with his brothers and sisters. When he was nine, his family moved from the South to Cleveland, Ohio, in search of a better life.

Life in Cleveland didn’t quite turn out as the Owens family had hoped. Jesse took part-time jobs to help his family with the bills. Somehow he still found time for sports after school. Jesse ran his first race when he was thirteen. The thin, strong athlete was especially good at track, running quickly with smooth grace. By his last year in high school, Jesse had tied the world record in the 100-yard dash.

Jesse had become one of the country’s best athletes. Many colleges wanted the high school star to join their track team. Jesse chose to stay close to home and attend Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus.

Jesse Owens • Level T 6

The “Buckeye Bullet”

Even though he was talented, Owens did not get an athletic scholarship. Colleges at that time did not award such scholarships to African American students. Instead, Owens was offered “work-study” employment.

He took a part-time job running a freight elevator to help pay for school.

Owens experienced other discrimination as well. The track team traveled around the country to compete against other colleges. Many businesses did not allow African Americans. There were times when Owens could not even eat at a restaurant or stay in a hotel with his team. He did not let any of this interfere with his performance on the track. He trained hard and set many more records at OSU.

Owens also pumped gas to help pay for his studies at OSU.

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One of Owens’s greatest achievements took place during his second year at OSU. A few days before a 1935 championship meet in Michigan, Owens hurt his back. He could barely bend over to touch his knees. His coach suggested he withdraw from the meet, but Owens wanted to compete. He said he would take it one event at a time.

First, Owens once again tied the world record in the 100-yard dash. His back felt fine, so he moved on to the long jump. He took one jump and set a new world record by almost 6 inches (15 cm). Twenty minutes later, he ran the 220-yard final and set yet another record. Finally, he ran the hurdles and finished in 22.6 seconds, becoming the first person ever to break the 23-second mark.

In less than an hour, Owens had tied or broken four world records. News reporters called it “the greatest 45 minutes in sports history.” Owens won and tied the world record for the 100-yard dash while at OSU.

Jesse Owens • Level T 8

The 1936 Olympics

In July 1936, Owens ran in the Olympic Trials and made the United States team. The Olympics were to be held in Berlin, Germany. At the time, Germany was under Nazi control. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, held racist beliefs that angered many people. Nazis believed people of color were less than human.

Owens was one of eighteen African Americans on the Olympic team. German officials made fun of the United States for bringing black athletes to the Games. Most of the German people, however, cheered for the athletes. Many asked for Owens’s autograph.

Members of the American Olympic team, including Owens (fourth from right), take a stroll in London, England, in 1936.

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Hitler had hoped to show the world that the German team was the best, but the Americans ruined his plan. Owens and teammate Ralph Metcalfe, another African American, took first and second place in the 100-meter dash.

Next, Owens defeated German Luz (LUTS) Long in the long jump. The tall, blond athlete congratulated Owens on his win. “It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler,” Owens recalled later. “Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace.”

Owens wins his third gold medal and beats the 200-meter dash record in the 1936 Olympics.

German leader Adolph Hitler watches the 1936 Olympic Games.

Jesse Owens • Level T 10

A Friendship for the AgesJesse Owens had a rough start to the long jump at the

1936 Olympics. His first attempts didn’t count because he fouled. He had only one jump left to qualify for the finals. Luz Long offered help. He gave Owens tips on where to start his jump. Owens’s last jump was perfect. He went on to win the gold medal, while Long took silver.

The two men became good friends. Because they lived so far from each other, they kept in touch by mail. During World War II (1939–1945), Long had to fight in the German army. Sadly, he was killed in North Africa. Owens never saw his friend again.

In his last letter to Owens, Long asked him for help. He wanted Owens to reach out to Long’s young son, Kai, and “tell him about his father.” Long wanted Kai to know what times were like before the war. “Tell him how things can be between men on this earth.”

Owens honored Long’s request. He became friends with Kai and even served as best man at his wedding. Owens and Kai continued a friendship that had begun with a kind act by Long years before. Luz Long and Jesse Owens

The 1936 Olympic medal winners in the long jump competition in Berlin: from left, Japan’s Naoto Tajima (bronze), American Jesse Owens (gold), and Germany’s Luz Long (silver). Long is giving a Nazi salute.

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Indeed, Hitler was not pleased at all. When the Games ended, he would not shake hands with any of the African American winners. Owens paid no mind and went on to win two more gold medals. “I didn’t go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway,” Owens said.

All in all, the American men’s track team took home eleven gold medals. Six of those medals were won by African Americans. Owens earned three in individual events, plus another in the 4 x 100 relay.

Jesse Owens 1936 Olympic Gold TriumphJesse Owens broke or equaled nine Olympic records and also set three world records. At the 1936 Berlin Games, he won a total of four gold medals.

Medal Sporting Results Won Event

Gold Medal— 100m 10.3 seconds Tied Own World Record

Gold Medal— 200m 20.7 seconds New World Record

Gold Medal— Long jump 8 meters New World Record (26.5 in.)

Gold Medal— 4 x 100m 39.8 seconds New World Record relay

Jesse Owens • Level T 12

Back in the States

The American team returned home from the Berlin Olympics, and Owens was a hero. In New York City, he was honored with a huge parade. A party followed at a big hotel. Yet because Owens was African American, he could not take the regular elevator to the hotel ballroom. He had to ride the freight elevator to his own celebration.

Fans line the streets during a parade honoring Owens’s Olympic success in New York, New York, in 1936.

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At first, fame did not bring fortune to Owens. Today, Olympic heroes may get paid to endorse products. In the 1930s, however, this did not happen, especially for African Americans. Owens found himself in a tough spot. He could no longer compete for OSU because of poor grades.

When Owens received an offer to run against a racehorse in Cuba for $2,000, he accepted. Owens won the race. He also ran races against cars, trucks, and dogs. “Sure, it bothered me,” he would later say. “But at least it was an honest living. I had to eat.”

Owens competes against a racehorse in San Mateo, California, in 1948.

Jesse Owens • Level T 14

A Champion for All

Owens continued to struggle to earn a living. He worked as a park janitor, then started his own dry-cleaning company. In 1949, he moved to Chicago and started a public relations company. The next year, the press named Owens the greatest track athlete of the early twentieth century.

Owens was now in great demand. He was made the head of the Illinois State Athletic Commission. He gave speeches all around the country. During the 1950s and 1960s, Owens traveled to Asia. There, he talked about the value of sports. In 1973, Owens joined the United States Olympic Committee. He worked hard to raise money for athletes’ training and equipment.

After his victories in Berlin, Owens was never congratulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This bothered Owens all his life. Years later, he was honored by not one but three presidents.

In 1965, Owens was a running coach for the New York Mets.

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President Gerald R. Ford gave Owens the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 . President Carter gave him the Living Legends Award in 1979. President George H. W. Bush gave Owens the Congressional Gold Medal after his death.

As he grew older, Owens continued to exercise. He walked two miles a day, swam, and lifted weights. Sadly, however, Owens was a smoker. He died of lung cancer in 1979. He was sixty-six years old.

Jesse Owens set records and won medals, but that alone did not make him great. He used his athletic gifts to inspire others. Owens told people, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.”

Owens at home in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1975, surrounded by his many medals and awards.

President Ford and Owens

Jesse Owens • Level T 16

Glossaryathletes (n.) people trained in sports, games,

or other activities that require strength, speed, and skill (p. 4)

determination (n.)

the commitment or drive to work toward a difficult goal (p. 15)

dignity (n.) worthiness of respect or esteem (p. 4)

discrimination (n.)

the unfair treatment of a person or group based on gender, race, age, religion, or other differences (p. 6)

grit (n.) the courage and strength to continue working toward a goal despite challenges (p. 4)

Olympic (adj.) of or relating to an international contest and festival that involves many kinds of sports (p. 8)

racist (adj.) relating to the belief that some races are better than others (p. 8)

sharecropper (n.)

a farmer who works on someone else’s land in return for part of the profit from the crops (p. 5)

track (n.) a sport in which athletes compete in races on a running track (p. 4)