William DeHart Hubbard
William DeHart Hubbard was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event: the running long jump at the 1924 Paris Summer games.
1903
1976
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
African American
As a sophomore, DeHart set Big Ten marks in the 50-yard dash. In his junior year, he brought Big Ten crowns in the 100-yard dash (9.8 seconds) and the long jump (24 feet,10 ¾ inches). That would earn him an opportunity to make the US Olympic team and compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
At the Paris Olympics, athletes were given three preliminary trials, and those with the better marks received three final trials. On DeHart’s second jump, he made the finals. On his sixth and final jump, still trailing in the competition, he started down the runway. In stride and gaining speed, he hit the takeoff board well and landed 24 feet, 5 inches, down the continent, well beyond the field of challengers, and into the international limelight. In that moment, William DeHart Hubbard became the first Black American to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic event and etched his name on the honour roll of Michigan’s greatest athletes of all time.
Upon his return to Michigan, DeHart flashed to victory in the sprints, hurdles, and long jump, leading the 1925 Maize and Blue to Big Ten titles in both the indoor and outdoor meets. During the course of the season, he tied the world record in the100-yard dash (9.6 seconds) against Ohio State at Ferry Field, as well as setting a long jump world record of 25 feet, 10 ¾inches (7.89m), at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in Chicago in June 1925.
DeHart completed his illustrious collegiate career by graduating with honours from the University of Michigan as well as being both a three-time track-and-field National Collegiate Athletic Association champion and field Big Ten Conference champion.,
His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 101⁄2 inches (7.89 m) stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980, and it still stands second. His 1925 jump of 25 feet 31⁄2 inches (7.71 m) stood as a Big Ten Championships record until Jesse Owens broke it on with what is now the current record of 26 feet 81⁄4 inches (8.13 m) in 1935.
In 1957, William DeHart Hubbard was voted into the National Track Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Fame in 1979.
He graduated from Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati and later attended the University of Michigan. DeHart’s progression to the University of Michigan is an interesting story. He came to the U of M via a newspaper subscription contest and the ingenuity of Mr. LonBarringer, also a Michigan alum. Mr. Barringer, a West Virginia businessman, learned about DeHart from the Cincinnati newspapers. Lon was fully aware of DeHart’s extraordinary athletic abilities and strong academic record and was determined to bring him to Michigan. Before bringing DeHart to the University, however, Lon had to discuss the opportunity with his good friend and fellow West Virginian, Fielding H. Yost. Yost was an iron-willed football coach who had prevented Black athletes from playing football for Michigan since 1901. In 1921, Yost was appointed Director of Athletics, which drastically changed his regard for Black athletes, and he gave Lon the approval for DeHart’s recruitment to the Michigan Track and Field team.
With the approval from Yost, Lon began to execute a plan that would land DeHart on the University of Michigan campus. The Cincinnati Enquirer was running a subscription contest. The 10 high school students in the area who could procure the greatest number of new subscriptions would be awarded a $3,000 college scholarship to attend the school of their choice. Lon persuaded DeHart to enter the contest and vowed that if he attended Michigan, every effort would be made to ensure that he won the contest. DeHart agreed.
Nearly every Michigan alumnus in the United States got a letter from Barringer on the subject of DeHart. Many subscribed, including people in Ann Arbor and Detroit, to say nothing of the Cincinnati boosters. For example, Branch Rickey, then owner of the St.Louis Cardinals baseball team, subscribed. In September 1921, William DeHart Hubbard became the contest winner and enrolled at the University of Michigan.
Upon college graduation, he accepted a position as the supervisor of the Department of Coloured Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission. He remained in this position until 1941. He then accepted a job as the manager of Valley Homes, a public housing project in Cincinnati. In 1942 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he served as a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority.
Hubbard served as the President of the National Bowling Association during the 1950s and also founded the Cincinnati Tigers, a professional baseball team, which played in the Negro American League.
In 1957, Hubbard was elected to the National Track Hall of Fame.
In 2010, the Brothers of Omega Psi Phi PHI Chapter established a scholarship fund honouring William DeHart Hubbard; the fund is endowed through the University of Michigan
https://studentlife.umich.edu/content/william-dehart-hubbard accessed 12/04/2022
https://www.Blackpast.org/african-american-history/hubbard-william-dehart-1903-1976/ accessed 12/04/2022
https://Blackkudos.tumblr.com/post/162123082277/dehart-hubbard accessed 12/04/2022
https://twitter.com/HistoryPress/status/764198479677784064 accessed 12/04/2022
https://prezi.com/b8mzekzlx5ap/william-dehart-hubbard/ accessed 12/04/2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeHart_Hubbard accessed 12/04/2022
https://studentlife.umich.edu/content/william-dehart-hubbard accessed 12/04/2022
