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Profiles in African American History: Jesse Owens

By Nelida Gonzalez Cutler

In 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson suggested that Americans set aside one week each February to honor the contributions of black Americans. That idea grew into Black History Month. Throughout February, TFK will highlight great African Americans.

At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Jesse Owens, the son of a sharecropper and grandson of slaves, became the hero of all Americans. Owens won four gold medals and set three world records, but it was his courage that inspired a nation.

Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, wanted to use the Olympics to showcase the superiority of his country and of white people. He refused to congratulate Owens for his victories, because he was black.

"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals [but] the struggles within yourself," Owens later said.

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