Before Jackie Robinson

The Transcendent Role of Black Sporting Pioneers

Buch | Softcover

324 Seiten

2017
University of Nebraska Press (Verlag)
978-0-8032-6679-7 (ISBN)

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While the accomplishments and influence of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali are doubtless impressive solely on their merits, these luminaries of the Black sporting experience did not emerge spontaneously. Their rise was part of a gradual evolution in social and power relations in American culture between the 1890s and 1940s that included athletes such as jockey Isaac Murphy, barnstorming pilot Bessie Coleman, and golfer Teddy Rhodes. The contributions of these early athletes to our broader collective history, and their heroic confrontations with the entrenched racism of their times, helped bring about the incremental changes that after 1945 allowed for sports to be more fully integrated.

Before Jackie Robinson details and analyzes the lives of these lesser-known but important athletes within the broader history of Black liberation. These figures not only excelled in their given sports but also transcended class and racial divides in making inroads into popular culture despite the societal restrictions placed on them. They were also among the first athletes to blur the line between athletics, entertainment, and celebrity culture. This volume presents a more nuanced account of early Black American athletes’ lives and their ongoing struggle for acceptance, relevance, and personal and group identity.

Gerald R. Gems is a professor in the Kinesiology Department at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and vice president of the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport. He is the author of several books, including Boxing: A Concise History of the Sweet Science and The Athletic Crusade: Sport and American Cultural Imperialism (Nebraska, 2006).

Introduction
Gerald R. Gems
1. Like a Comet across the Heavens: Isaac Burns Murphy, Horseracing, and the Age of American Exceptionalism
Pellom McDaniels III
2. John M. Shippen Jr.: Testing the Front Nine of American Golf
Sarah Jane Eikleberry
3. When Great Wasn’t Good Enough: Sam Ransom’s Journey from Athlete to Activist
Gerald R. Gems
4. A League of Their Own: Rube Foster’s “Pitfalls of Baseball” Revisited
Michael E. Lomax
5. Bessie Coleman: “The Only Race Aviatrix in the World”
Bieke Gils
6. Sol Butler: The Fleeting Fame of a World-Class Black Athlete
James E. Odenkirk
7. Robert L. “Bob” Douglas: “Aristocracy on the Court, an Architect of Men”
Susan J. Rayl
8. Isadore Channels: The Recovered Life of a Great African American Sports Star
Robert Pruter
9. Tommy Brookins: Pioneer in Two Worlds
Murry Nelson
10. Tidye Pickett: The Unfulfilled Aspirations of America’s Pioneering African American Female Track Star
Robert Pruter
11. Harold “Killer” Johnson: Making a Career in the Popular Culture
James Coates
12. Continuing the Struggle: Teddy Rhodes and Professional Golf
Raymond Schmidt
Contributors
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	02.02.2017
Zusatzinfo	index
Verlagsort	Lincoln
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Literatur ► Briefe / Tagebücher
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft
ISBN-10	0-8032-6679-0 / 0803266790
ISBN-13	978-0-8032-6679-7 / 9780803266797
Zustand	Neuware