Jesse Owens

Notable people · Athlete

Jesse Owens

Cleveland-raised Ohio State sprinter and long jumper who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Born September 12, 1913, Oakville, AL
Died March 31, 1980, Tucson, AZ

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: September 12, 1913, Oakville, AL source
Died: March 31, 1980, Tucson, AZ source
Buried: Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago source
Also known as: Jesse Owens, J. C. Owens, The Buckeye Bullet
Education: Fairmount Junior High School, Cleveland, OH
: East Technical High School, Cleveland, OH, graduated
: Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1933-1941, none
Known as: Athlete
Organizations: Ohio State University

Life story

James Cleveland 'J.C.' Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, in 1913, the youngest of ten children of sharecroppers. His family moved to Cleveland when he was nine, and a teacher misheard his name as Jesse.

Coach Charles Riley at Fairmount Junior High pushed him toward running. At East Technical High School he set national records in sprints and the long jump, and won the national high school meet in 1933.

At Ohio State he won eight NCAA titles. On May 25, 1935, he set five world records and tied another in about 45 minutes at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor.

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics he won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100 relay. Later he worked for Ford, spoke around the country, served as a goodwill ambassador in 1955, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976. He died in 1980 and is buried in Chicago.

Ohio ties

Cleveland (1922-1933)
family home from age nine; Fairmount Junior High and East Technical High School Cuyahoga County · source
Columbus (Ohio State University) (1933-1936, 1940-1941)
student and track athlete under coach Larry Snyder; left without a degree in December 1941 Franklin County · source
Ohio Statehouse, Columbus (1933-1936)
part-time freight elevator operator while training Franklin County · source
East 11th Avenue boarding house, Columbus (1933-1936)
lived with other Black students after being barred from the men's dormitory Franklin County · source
Cleveland (late 1930s)
worked briefly for the city Parks and Recreation Department after the Olympics Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

1922 Family moved from Oakville, Alabama, to Cleveland. source
1931 As an East Tech sophomore won the broad jump at the Ohio state meet. source
1932 Won four events at the state meet, including a state-record 22 ft 11.5 in broad jump, as East Tech took the state title. source
1933 Won four state-meet events again, with state records of 9.6 s in the 100-yard dash and 24 ft 3.5 in in the broad jump, and entered Ohio State that fall. source
1935 On May 25 at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor set five world records and tied a sixth in about 45 minutes. source
1936 Won the 100 m, long jump, 200 m and 4x100 m relay at the Berlin Olympics between August 3 and 9. source
1937 His four Olympic oak saplings were planted at Rhodes High School, East Tech, Ohio State and his parents' Cleveland house. source
1941 Withdrew from Ohio State in December after returning in fall 1940, without finishing his degree. source
1972 Ohio State awarded him an honorary doctorate of athletic arts. source
1976 Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. source
1982 William McVey's statue of Owens in his Ohio State track suit was installed at Fort Huntington Park in Cleveland. source
2001 Ohio State opened Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for track and soccer. source
2010 Cleveland renamed the East Roadway of Public Square as Jesse Owens Way on November 15. source
2018 Gov. John Kasich dedicated Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area on former AEP mining land in eastern Ohio. source
2024 Cleveland approved his former home as a city landmark. source

What Jesse is known for

Four gold medals, Berlin 1936
Set Olympic records in each of the four events
Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium named in his honor
Four gold medals at 1936 Berlin Olympics: 100 m, 200 m, long jump, 4x100 m relay
Set world records at the Big Ten meet, Ann Arbor, 25 May 1935 (five world records and a tie within about an hour, in a feat called the greatest 45 minutes in sport)
Eight individual NCAA titles for Ohio State, 1935-36
Eight NCAA titles (1935-36)
Four gold medals, 1936 Olympics

Stories

The elevator job that won him for Ohio State

In 1933 both Ohio State and the University of Michigan wanted Owens. Ohio State's winning offer was a part-time job running a freight elevator at the Ohio Statehouse while he trained and went to class. The university's only men's dormitory would not take him because he was Black, so he lived in a boarding house on East 11th Avenue with other Black students who cooked their own meals. No restaurant on High Street would serve Black students, and most movie theaters would not admit them. Despite that, he was elected captain of the track team, the first African American captain of a Big Ten team.

Source

The Olympic oaks of Cleveland

German organizers gave each 1936 gold medalist an oak sapling, and Owens brought four home. In 1937 they were planted at Rhodes High School, East Tech, Ohio State and the yard of the Cleveland house he bought for his parents. Only the Rhodes oak, at a school where Owens had trained though he never attended it, was known to survive. By 2021 it had stopped blooming. Holden Forests & Gardens and Bartlett Tree Experts had it grafted, planted the first clone at the Rockefeller Park Lagoon in May 2021, and set another beside the original at Rhodes on October 12, 2022.

Source

Inventions and firsts

All Ohio inventions and firsts

Four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics (1936)

Honors and things named for them

Presidential Medal of Freedom (1976)
Congressional Gold Medal (1990, posthumous)
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Jesse Owens Rising Star Award

Named for Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (Ohio State University) (Columbus, Franklin County) source
Jesse Owens Way (East Roadway, Public Square) (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County) source
Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area (Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Guernsey counties, Morgan County) source
Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Plaza, Rockefeller Park (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County) source
Jesse Owens recreation centers, Ohio State University (Columbus, Franklin County) source

Family

father: Henry Cleveland Owens
mother: Mary Emma Fitzgerald
wife: Minnie Ruth Solomon
daughter: Gloria, Marlene, Beverly

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments.

Jesse Owens statue, Fort Huntington Park
Cleveland (W. Lakeside Ave. and W. 3rd St.) Cuyahoga County · source
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Columbus (2450 Fred Taylor Drive) Franklin County · source
Jesse Owens Olympic oak, James Ford Rhodes High School (unknown)
Cleveland (Old Brooklyn) Cuyahoga County · source
Jesse Owens Olympic Oak clone, Rockefeller Park Lagoon
Cleveland Cuyahoga County · source
Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area
eastern Ohio (Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Guernsey counties) Morgan County · source

Places in Ohio to see

East Technical High School (marker)
2439 E 55th St, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44103 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County

Ohio places

Where Jesse Owens was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

School: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County (East Technical High School (ZIP approx)) ZIP 44103 (approximate) · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
School: Columbus, Franklin County (Ohio State University campus) ZIP 43210 · Columbus · Franklin County
Lived: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44104 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
School: Cleveland (East Technical High School), Cuyahoga County (2439 E 55th St) ZIP 44104 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
School: Columbus (Ohio State University), Franklin County ZIP 43210 · Columbus · Franklin County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Jesse Owens, and what the record shows.

Often said Hitler snubbed Owens by refusing to shake his hand.

The record Hitler had stopped publicly congratulating medalists after the first day and left before the 100 m ceremony. Owens said Hitler waved at him, and that the real snub came from President Franklin Roosevelt, who never invited him to the White House. source

Often said German long jumper Luz Long gave Owens the advice that saved his long-jump qualifying.

The record Owens told the story for years but later admitted it was untrue; the two met only after the competition. source

Often said "Jesse" was his given name.

The record He was named James Cleveland Owens. A Cleveland teacher heard his Southern-accented "J. C." as "Jesse," and the name stuck. source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

Title: [Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe at the 1936 Randall's Island Olympic trials, New York, NY] Creator: Ric...
No known restrictions
Photo of Jesse Owens in 1936.
Public domain
Photo of US Olympic team sprinters (from left) Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff on the deck of the...
Public domain
The photo shows Luz Long walking arm in arm with Jesse Owens through the Berlin Olympic Stadium following the ...
CC0
Splash page, "Arch Ward's ten all-time sports greats" (Jesse Owens), "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact" Vol. 7, ...
Public domain
Canyon of Heroes - Sep 3 1936 - Jesse Owens & US Olympic Team.
CC0
American hurdler Fred Wolcott (left) and sprinter Jesse Owens (right)
Public domain
American hurdler Fred Wolcott (left) and sprinter Jesse Owens (right)
Public domain
American boxer Jack Dempsey posed with Civil Defense poster "A Strong America" showing Jesse Owens on starting...
Public domain
Imagem do Fundo Correio da Manhã.
Public domain
El Grafico del 22 de Agosto de 1936. Edicion 893
Public domain
American former track athlete Jesse Owens during his time working for the Ford Motor Company in 1942.
Public domain