jim thorpe

Jim ThorpeWa Tho Huck (Bright Path)

The Greatest Athlete of All Time

By Matt Underhill and Emily Taschner

King, C. Richard. Native Americans in Sports Volume 2. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. 300.

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Early Life

• Born May 22, 1887• Born on Sac and Fox Indian Reservation in OK• “Mixed Breed” grandfather was white• 1/11 children• Twin brother, Charlie • Hunting, swimming and running down horses• ‘Uncommon strength and stamina’ farm boy

upbringing

King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 299-300.

Education

• Haskell Institute• Carlisle Indian school

King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 300.

Athletics

• Baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse and track excelling at all of them.

• Won the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing championship.

Athletics

• Football– Pop Warner’s running back, defensive back, kicker

and punter. In a victory over Harvard, he scored all of Carlisle's points. 1

– Led Carlisle to national championship in 1912, scoring 25 touchdowns and racking up 198 points.

– Elected chair member of College Football Hall of Fame– 3 time All American 2

– “Jim Thorpe Trophy” for best defensive back in college football


Adamson, Scott. “Michael Phelps the greatest athlete? What about Jim Thorpe?” Confederated Umatilla Journal [Pendleton, Or] 01 Sep 2008: 44.

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Athletics

• Track and Field– Ranked among world’s elite in shot put, long jump,

high jump and hurdles


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Stockholm Olympics 1912

• First ever Native American to compete• Gold medals in pentathlon and decathlon– Hasn’t been duplicated since

• Elected chair member of Olympics Hall of Fame• 6 months after, reporter ousted Thorpe for

playing semi pro baseball summers of 1909 & 10.

• Lost medals due to professional experience

Gresczyk, Randy. Jim Thorpe Everlasting Hero” The Circle : News from an American Indian Perspective. Minneapolis. 31 Aug 1996: 19.


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Receiving his gold medals

The truth:Stockholm Olympics

• Thorpe played bush league baseball for expense $ in summers 1909 & 10

• Easier to extract Thorpe (one Indian) than disqualify half of the Olympic team

Professional Career

• Baseball– 1913- signed to NY Giants 1

– Baseball off season played part time pro football in OH for Canton Bulldogs-$250/game 1

– Best year was in 1919 when he batted .327 in 60 games 2

1 King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 302

2 Culvert, Edward R. “Another Angle; Does Anyone Remember Jim Thorpe?” New Voice of New York, Inc [Jamaica, N.Y] 19 Aug 2004: 15

Professional Career

• 1920-elected President of American Professional Football Association

• 1922-23-turned his all Indian Oorang football team into NFLs biggest draw

• All-Pro honors one season and being named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1920s.

• Charter member of Cantons Pro Football Hall of Fame (statue)


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Pro Football Hall of Fame

Acting Career• Early 1930s Thorpe became too old for sports 1

• Starred in small movie roles in CA 2

• She, The Green Light, Treachery Rides the Range, Telegraph Trail, You Can't Take It With You, and Northwest Passage. 2

• As casting director insisted Indians play Indian roles, was often overruled 1

• Sold his life story to Warner Bros for less than $3000 1

1 King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 302.

2 Rector, Leta. “Jim Thorpe, Athlete of the Century”. News from Indian Country [Hayward, Wis] 07 Apr 2003: 12B

Tragedies

• Twin brother died at age 9• Mother died of childbirth complications• Father died when he was 16 of gangrene

poisoning• Jim Jr died in his arms at age 2 of pneumonia• 3 wives, 8 kids


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A bit about himself• Enjoyed ‘Hunting and Fishing” best of all sports 1

• Had Coon dogs 2

• Made frequent fishing trips to El Segundo and Redondo Beach 2

• Died of Cerebral hemorrhage Mar 28, 1953 2

• Tombstone: “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.” -King Gustav V of Sweden (Olympics 1912)3

1 Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School, .2 King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 303.

3 Rector, Leta. “Jim Thorpe, Athlete of the Century”. News from Indian Country [Hayward, Wis] 07 Apr 2003: 12B

Legacy

• 1955-Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania changed its’ name to Jim Thorpe

• 1983-replica gold medals were presented to Thorpe’s descendants for the Stockholm tragedy

• Only Indian in his era to command a national audience.

• Helped construct the national perception of Indians in the 20th century


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Quote on his Tombstone

Bibliography

• King, C. Richard. Native Americans in Sports Volume 2. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2004. Book.

• Van Brocklin, Thomas. Great Athletes: the Twentieth Century. California: Salem Press Inc, 1992. 2506-09. Book.

• Gresczyk, Randy. Jim Thorpe Everlasting Hero” The Circle : News from an American Indian Perspective. Minneapolis. 31 Aug 1996: 19.

Bibliography

• Rector, Leta. “Jim Thorpe, Athlete of the Century”. News from Indian Country [Hayward, Wis] 07 Apr 2003: 12B

• Culvert, Edward R. “Another Angle; Does Anyone Remember Jim Thorpe?” New Voice of New York, Inc [Jamaica, N.Y] 19 Aug 2004: 15

• Adamson, Scott. “Michael Phelps the greatest athlete? What about Jim Thorpe?” Confederated Umatilla Journal [Pendleton, Or] 01 Sep 2008: 44.

jim thorpe

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