FOOTBALL

CHARLES FOLLIS was the first African American professional football player. He was called the Black Cyclone from Wooster. Follis signed with the Shelby Blues in Shelby, Ohio, in September 1904. He was forced to retire from football two years later when he was seriously injured in a Thanksgiving Day game. Read more.

FREDERICK DOUGLAS "FRITZ" POLLARD, SR. was the first African American football player to play in the Rose Bowl. Pollard entered Brown University in 1914 and was selected to play on the university's football team. In 1916, Brown baffled Washington State in the Rose Bowl. Some officials objected to Pollard's presence in the game; however, Pollard's teammates refused to play if he was barred from participating. In 1919, Pollard signed up to play professional football for the Akron Indians. He was also the first African-American coach in the National Football League. His son, FRITZ POLLARD, JR., (shown in photo) was a 1936 Olympic bronze winner in the hurdles.

BASKETBALL

The first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association were CHARLES "CHUCK" COOPER, Boston Celtics; EARL LLOYD, Washington Capitols; and NATHANIEL "SWEETWATER" CLIFTON, New York Knickerbockers.

WILT CHAMBERLAIN was the first basketball player to score 100 points in a single game. At the time he set the record, Chamberlain played for the Philadelphia Warriors. The season was 1961-62, and the opponent was the New York Knickerbockers. The Warriors beat the Knickerbockers 169-147. In 1972, while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, "Wilt the Stilt" became the first player in the NBA to score 30,000 points.

BASEBALL

ANDREW "RUBE" FOSTER founded the first African American baseball league. In 1920, Foster formed the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, which became known as the Negro National League.

In July 1947, LARRY DOBY became the first African American baseball player in the American League. Doby played in the majors for thirteen years and was named to the American League All-Star team six times. In 1978 he was appointed manager of the Chicago White Sox. Read more.

TRACK AND FIELD

In the 1948 summer Olympics, ALICE COACHMAN took first place in the high jump, becoming the first African American woman to win the gold medal in London. she dominated the high jump for a decade, and was also a good sprinter. She also broke the high school and college high jump records without wearing any shoes. She retired from track after the 1948 Olympics, earned a degree from Albany State college and worked as a teacher and track coach. In 1994, she founded the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation for young athletes. Alice is a member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.

JAMES CLEVELAND 'JESSE' OWENS was the first athlete to win four gold medals in one Olympiad. In the 1936 games in Berlin, Owens tied the world record in the 100-meter dash, set Olympic records in the broad jump and the 200-meter dash, and along with his teammates, won a gold medal in the 440-meter relay. Owens embarrassed Hitler who also felt African Americans were an inferior race.
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BOXING

JOHN ARTHUR (JACK) JOHNSON, born in Galveston, Texas, was the first black to win the world heavyweight title and was one of boxing's greatest and most controversial champions. He worked as a janitor, dockhand, and stable boy before becoming a professional boxer in 1899. After winning the title in 1908 with a knockout of Tommy Burns, he defended the championship against a succession of "great white hopes," including former champion James J. Jeifries, who came out of a six-year retirement in 1910 only to be knocked out in the 15th round. He posted a career record of 78 wins, 8 losses, and 12 no-decisions, with 45 knockouts. A play (1968) and motion picture (1970) based on his life, "The Great White Hope", starred James Earl Jones.

In 1926, THEODORE FLOWERS became the first African American middleweight boxing champion. Flowers won the title over Harry Krebs in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

JOE LOUIS was the first boxer to hold the heavyweight championship for longer than a decade (twelve consecutive years). His reputation as a knockout fighter earned him the nickname the "Brown Bomber."
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TENNIS

ALTHEA GIBSON was the first African American tennis player to compete at Wimbledon. Gibson's first Wimbledon competition was in 1950 when she was twenty-three. She returned to Wimbledon seven years later and won the women's singles, another first for an African American.

ARTHUR ASHE was the first African American to be named to the U.S. Davis Cup team (1963); the first to win the US Open (1968); the first to win men's singles at Wimbledon (1975); and the first to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (1985).

GOLF

DR. GEORGE F. GRANT, a dentist and Harvard graduate, patented the wooden golf tee in December 1899.

In 1975 LEE ELDER became the first African American golfer to play in the prestigious Masters Tournament. He was the first to earn more than $100,000 in a season and the first to make the U. S. Ryder Cup team.