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Transcript of 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
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 301.
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
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 300.
Google Images
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.
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 301.
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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)
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 302.
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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
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 302.
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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
King, Native Americans in Sports Volume 2, 303.
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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.