Jesse Owens

Throwback Thursday Snapshot

Jesse Owens, 1936

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." - Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens had a soft smile and a warm demeanor. He was humble and yet a star, an enormous talent, the best in his track and field events. But what he seemed to care most for was friendship. "Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust," he would say. Jesse was special, and people adored him. He was beloved.

Jesse was born as James Cleveland Owens on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama, a small town in the southern United States. His parents were sharecroppers, a system of farming in which families worked on land owned by someone else and received a share of the crops as payment. Life for the Owens family was fraught with hardship; they were poor and lived in a region with much racial segregation.

In search of better opportunities, in 1922, the Owens family joined the Great Migration, a mass movement of African Americans from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where young Jesse encountered a world different from Alabama.

Jesse's years in Cleveland were formative. Much in his life changed, starting with his name. J.C. is what family and friends had always called him. But at his new school, a teacher misunderstood how Jesse pronounced his name in a strong southern drawl. Jesse was shy and didn't correct the teacher. And that is how J.C. became Jesse.

It was also in Cleveland that Jesse's track and field career began. Though it almost ended before starting. Jesse had numerous health issues growing up. He was frail and often sick and suffered from pneumonia multiple times. His ailments led to his mother being more protective of her son. When Jesse first approached her about running while in elementary school, she said no. But Jesse insisted and asked his father, who was a runner, to let him become one as well. After sleeping on it and talking with Jesse's father, Jesse's mother agreed to let her son run. His running career had begun.

Early Running Career

"I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." Jesse Owens

Jesse was a fast runner from his earliest running years. But in late middle school, Jesse struggled to perform well, losing to runners he believed that he was faster than. The innate talent was there, but he wasn't winning. Though still shy, Jesse asked his coach for help. 

Soon, Jesse's coach took him to an event, where he told the young boy, "We're going to watch the best runners in the world. I want you to watch these horses run. No man in the world can come close to them." Jesse was surprised that the best runners his coach talked about were horses. But he went along. 

"Do you know why the best horses make it look easy? Because the determination is all on the inside," his coach said.

This experience changed how Jesse perceived competition. It changed his attitude. And he continued following his coach's wisdom. His coach, who was technique and character-oriented, told Jesse, "Don't worry about running fast. Just run right. The speed will come by itself."

Though still young, Jesse had a deep respect for his coach. He would say,

"I grew to admire and respect [Coach's] words and actions and everything else. I wanted to be like him because he was a wonderful person, well liked by everybody." 

From there, stardom came quickly as Jesse competed for East Technical High School in Cleveland, Ohio. He set national records and attracted the attention of college coaches. After high school, he enrolled at Ohio State University, where his track and field stardom continued, including a special day in 1935 when Jesse set three world records and tied another in a forty-five-minute span. 

Along with the records in 1935, that year also marked an important milestone in Jesse's life. He married Minnie Ruth Solomon. About his wife, Jesse would say,

"She was unusual because even though I knew her family was as poor as ours, nothing she said or did seemed touched by that. Or by prejudice. Or by anything the world said or did. It was as if she had something inside her that somehow made all that not count. I fell in love with her some the first time we ever talked, and a little bit more every time after that until I thought I couldn't love her more than I did. And when I felt that way, I asked her to marry me … and she said she would."

The couple would have three kids and be married for the rest of Jesse's life.