Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, defying Nazi claims of Aryan racial superiority.
His name evokes athletic excellence achieved against a backdrop of racism—both Hitler's ideology abroad and Jim Crow segregation at home.
He ran like Jesse Owens.
Short-distance racing specialist
- long jumpHorizontal distance leap event
- track and fieldCompetitive stadium sports
- relayStage-by-stage transmission
- 100 metersStandard short sprint
200 meters · broad jump · world record · Ohio State · speed · champion · record holder · athletics
Germany's largest city
- 1936A calendar year
- gold medalAward for winning
- Nazi GermanyHitler's fascist dictatorship
- HitlerNazi Germany's totalitarian leader
propaganda · racial ideology · triumph · defiance · world record · international competition
First to forge ahead
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- role modelPerson others emulate
hero · inspiration · perseverance · determination · achievement · influence · exemplar · courage
Forced separation by group
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
snub · White House · FDR · ticker-tape parade · dignity · injustice · sharecropper · Alabama
sprinter
Short-distance racing specialist
- long jumpHorizontal distance leap event
- track and fieldCompetitive stadium sports
- relayStage-by-stage transmission
100 meters · 200 meters · broad jump · world record · Ohio State · speed · champion · record holder · athletics · race
Berlin
Germany's largest city
- 1936A calendar year
- gold medalAward for winning
- Nazi GermanyHitler's fascist dictatorship
Hitler · propaganda · racial ideology · triumph · defiance · world record · international competition
trailblazer
First to forge ahead
role model · hero · inspiration · perseverance · determination · achievement · influence · exemplar · courage · dignity
segregation
Forced separation by group
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
inequality · snub · White House · FDR · ticker-tape parade · dignity · injustice · sharecropper · Alabama · Oakville
- Runnerssprinters, distance runner, long distance runner, elite runner, track runner
- long jumpersCarl Lewis
- 1930s FiguresFDR, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Babe Ruth
- Famous OhioansNeil Armstrong, John Glenn, LeBron James, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas Edison
- athletesathlete, Olympian, champion, swimmers, runner
- OlympicsOlympics, Olympic Games, Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, Olympic medal
Jesse OwensAdolf Hitler
Nazi ideology · Joseph Goebbels · white supremacy · white supremacists · segregationists
Jesse OwensFranklin D. Roosevelt