Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens, Track Star

James Cleveland Owens was born in 1913 in a small town in Alabama. His parents, Henry and Emma Owens, decided to move the family to Cleveland, Ohio when Jesse Owens was eight years old, being the last of ten children. They didn’t 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 public school. On his first day of class when the teacher asked his name, she heard Jesse instead of J.C. He was called Jesse from that point on.

Jesse wasn’t as prosperous as Henry and Emma had hoped and the family remained poor. Jesse took on different jobs in his spare time. He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars, and worked in a shoe repair shop. At this time, Jesse realized he enjoyed running. Which had became the turning point in his life. One day in gym class, the students were timed in the 60-yard dash. When Coach Charlie Riley saw how talented Jesse was, the coach immediately invited Jesse to join the track team. Although Jesse was unable to participate in after-school practices because of work, Coach Riley offered to train him in the mornings. At Cleveland East Technical High School, Jesse became a track star. As a senior, he tied the world record in the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.4 seconds, only to tie it again while running in the Interscholastic Championships in Chicago. While in Chicago, he also leaped distance of 24 feet 9 5/8 inches in the broad-jump. But Jesse’s fame only started in High School where it would become even greater as he became more “well known.”

Seeing Jesse’s great talent, many colleges and universities tried to recruit him, he chose to attend Ohio State University because he didn’t want to live well while his parents were almost in poverty. The track coach found a permanent job for Jesse’s father, and arranged jobs for him to pay for his room and board. Here Jesse met some of the fiercest competition. The United States was still struggling to live in a world without segregation in 1933, which led to many difficulties for Jesse. He was required to live off campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team, Jesse could either order carryout or eat at the “blacks only” restaurants, and he also had to sleep in “blacks only”