BHS Day 18: George Poage

Hi! For our third Sports Spotlight of the month I'm focusing on another pioneer, this one in track and field. Track and field is a sport that has always had some level of African-American dominance, and I've featured a couple of other trailblazers in the sport in previous years. Today's entrant, however, was the first in quite a few things. He was able to make a name for himself at a time of heavy segregation but even though he was talented, educated and respected, racism followed and stunted him for much of his life and his accomplishments have largely been lost to history. Let's get started!

Name: George Poage, 1880-1962

Profession: Track athlete and educator

Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his accomplishments in track and field and the barriers he broke for modern-day track stars 

Notables:
--was the first Black graduate of his high school, where he was the top athlete and graduated as salutatorian
--was the first Black Big Ten track champion after placing first in both of his events
--was the first African-American athlete to medal at the Olympic games in 1904, despite heavy segregation of the games, taking home two bronze medals and competing in a total of four events
--was the first Black athlete to compete for University of Wisconsin
--could speak 5 different languages by the time he graduated college and excelled in academics as well as athletics
--was posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 1998
--broke the state record for the 50-yard dash while in high school
--was allowed to coach his college track team when the coach was unable to be there and later became an athletic trainer for the team
--became a teacher at a segregated school after his track career was over, becoming the head of the English department at one of the institutions he worked at
--was posthumously honored by his hometown of La Crosse in 2013 by having a park renamed after him
--coached various sports teams and oversaw extracurricular activities during his time as an instructor
--despite his accomplishments, had a rough time finding steady employment following the end of his track career, likely due to racism, but eventually found a job at the US Postal Service, where he worked for 30 years


Further reading links:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4


Quote of the Day: 
"Of matchless swiftness, but of silent pace."

--George Poage's high school yearbook caption, a Homer quote