DeHart Hubbard

DeHart Hubbard

Hubbard in 1924
Medal record
Men'sathletics
RepresentingtheUnited States
Olympic Games
	1924 Paris	Long jump

William DeHart Hubbard(November 25, 1903 – June 23, 1976) was atrack and field athletewho was the firstAfrican Americanto win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event: the runninglong jumpat the1924 Paris Summer games.He also competed in the 1924 Olympics as atriple jumper.The next year, he set a world record in the long jump, with a leap of25 feet10+7⁄8inches (7.90 m)atChicagoin June 1925, and equaled the world record of 9.6 seconds for the100-yard dashatCincinnati, Ohio,a year later.

High school and university

Hubbard excelled both athletically and academically atWalnut Hills High Schoolin Cincinnati.Businessman Lon Barringer, aUniversity of Michiganalumnus, learned of both achievements from newspaper articles.Impressed, he checked with University of Michigan Director of AthleticsFielding H. Yost,who had refused to allow African Americans to play football; Yost gave his enthusiastic approval to recruiting Hubbard.Barringer arranged an unusual plan to get Hubbard a scholarship to the school.The Cincinnati Enquirerwas running a subscription contest; the ten high school students who signed up the most subscribers for the newspaper would each receive a $3000 scholarship.He promised Hubbard he would make every effort to help him win the contest.Barringer wrote to Michigan alumni across the country;Branch Rickey,who later broke the Major League Baseballcolor barrierby signingJackie Robinson,was among the many who subscribed.Hubbard was one of the scholarship winners, and enrolled at Michigan in September 1921.

Hubbard remembered he was the only African American on the school's track team; he was also the first African American varsity tracklettermanat the university.In his college career, Hubbard was a three-timeNational Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) champion (1923 and 1925 outdoor long jump, 1925 100-yard dash),eight-timeAmateur Athletic Union(AAU) champion (1922 and 1923 triple jump, 1922–1927 long jump)and seven-timeBig Ten Conferencechampion in track and field (1923 and 1925 indoor 50-yard dash, 1923, 1924, and 1925 outdoor long jump, 1924 and 1925 outdoor 100-yard dash). His 1925 outdoor long jump of25 feet10+1⁄2inches (7.89 m) stood as theMichigan Wolverinesteam record until 1980, and is still second.His 1925 jump of25 feet3+1⁄2inches (7.71 m) stood as a Big Ten Championships record untilJesse Owensbroke it in 1935 with what is now the current record of26 feet8+1⁄4inches (8.13 m).In 1925, Hubbard broke the long jump world record with a leap of25 feet10+7⁄8inches (7.90 m) at the NCAA championships.In 1927, he bettered that with a jump of26 feet2+1⁄4inches (7.98 m) — which would have been the first ever over 26 feet (7.92 m) — but meet officials disallowed it, claiming that the take-off board was an inch higher than the surface of the landing pit.He also competed in the hurdles at the 1926 AAU championships.He graduated with honors in 1927.

1924 Olympic Games in Paris

Hubbard qualifed for the Olympics in the broad jump and thetriple jump.(According to his nephew, he also qualified for the 100 metres and the high hurdles, but was not allowed to compete in those events because they were for whites only; Camille Paddeu, a curator at the Musee municipal d'Art et d'Histoire inColombes,the Paris suburb where the main stadium was located, confirmed Hubbard was not permitted to compete in some events.) The United States Olympic team sailed fromHoboken, New Jersey,for France aboard the linerSSAmerica.Before the ship left, he wrote in a letter to his mother, "I'm going to do my best to be the FIRST COLORED OLYMPIC CHAMPION."The team was housed in poor conditions at a chateau inRocquencourt.

The night before he was to compete in the broad jump, Hubbard learned that fellow American OlympianRobert LeGendre(who had failed to qualify in the long jump, but did qualify in thepentathlon) had broken the long jump world record with a leap of 25 feet 6 inches (7.77 m) in the pentathlon.Hubbard was disturbed by the news, as surpassing the world record was his obsession.The competition took place on July 8. In his first attempt in the qualifying round, he not only fouled, he injured his right heel.On his second jump, he fell back upon landing, costing him over a foot of distance according to Hubbard.Due to his injury, he was unable to make any more attempts, but that was enough to take him into the final. In the final, he was unable to jump off his heel, instead having to do so off his toes, but on his final attempt he leaped 24 feet 6 inches (7.47 m), below his standards but good enough to win him the gold medal.Hubbard became the first African American to win an individual gold. (John Taylorran for the winning 1600-meter relay team in the1908 Summer Olympicsin London.)

Hubbard did not qualify for the final of the triple jump, which took place four days later on July 12.

1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam

Hubbard qualified in the broad jump, but was again injured and placed 11th.

Post-athletic career

Upon college graduation, he worked as the supervisor of the Department of Colored Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission until 1941. He then became the manager of Valley Homes, a public housing project in Cincinnati. In 1942 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). He retired from the FHA in 1969.

He remained active in sports. In 1934, he founded theCincinnati TigersNegro league baseballteam.In the 1950s, he was president of the National Bowling Association.

He died inClevelandin 1976.

Honors

In 1979, Hubbard was posthumously inducted into both theNational Track and Field Hall of Fameand theUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor,the latter as part of the second class inducted.

He was a member of theOmega Psi Phifraternity.In 2010, the Brothers of Omega Psi Phi, Incorporated, PHI Chapter established a scholarship fund honoring William DeHart Hubbard; the fund is endowed through the University of Michigan and donations can be forwarded to the University of Michigan, The William DeHart Hubbard Scholarship Fund.

See also

• Timeline of African-American firsts
• George Poage,first African American to win an Olympic medal, two bronzes, in the 200-yard and 400-yard hurdles, in 1904 in St. Louis

References

• William DeHart HubbardArchivedFebruary 16, 2020, at theWayback Machineat the Cincinnati Historical Society Library.
• 1924 passport photo of William DeHart Hubbard
• DeHart Hubbardat theUSATFHall of Fame(archived)
• DeHart HubbardatOlympics