James
Cleveland
(Jesse)
Owens
Born in Oakville, Lawrence, Alabama, United States
Ancestors 
Son of Henry Cleveland Owens
and Mary Emma (Alexander) Owens
Brother of
Ida H Tullie A (Owens) Gibson, Josephine (Owens) Gibson, Lillie M Owens, Prentiss Owens, Johnson Quincy V Owens, Henry Owens, Ernest Michael Sylvester Owens, Laverne (Owens) Hardy and Pearline (Owens) McKinney
Husband of
Minnie Ruth (Solomon) Owens
— married
5 Jul 1935 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Father of
[private daughter (1930s - unknown)] and [private daughter (1930s - unknown)]
Died
at age 66
in Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 4 Aug 2014
This page has been accessed 4,588 times.
| Jesse Owens is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage |
Biography
Jesse was an Olympic Gold Medalist
Jesse Owens is Notable.
Jesse Owens was an American track and field star who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany: the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, long jump, and the 4x100 meter relay. [1]
Jesse Cleveland Owens was the youngest of ten children, three girls and seven boys, born to Henry Cleveland Owens and Mary Emma Alexander in Oakville, Alabama on September 12, 1913.[2]
Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon met at Fairmount Junior High School in Cleveland when he was 15 years old and she was 13 years old. They dated steadily through high school. Ruth gave birth to their first daughter, Gloria, in 1932. They married on July 5, 1935 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio,[3][4] and had two more daughters together: Marlene, born in 1939, and Beverly, born in 1940.[5] They remained married until his death.
On 07 Jul 1972, Jesse Owens was appointed to the personal military staff of Gov. George C. Wallace as Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Hon. Lieutenant Colonel in the Alabama State Militia.[6]
Owens, a pack-a-day cigarette smoker for 35 years, had been hospitalized with an extremely aggressive and drug-resistant type of lung cancer on and off beginning in December 1979. He died in Tucson, Arizona, on March 31, 1980, with his wife and other family members at his bedside. He is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.[7]
In 1990 and 1998, the US Postal Service isssued stamps in his honor. [8]
Sources
- ↑ Wallechinsky, David; Loucky, Jaime. The Complete Book of The Olympics 2012 Edition. Aurum Press, London, 2012
- ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X43V-FDQ : accessed 24 July 2020), Jessie Owens in household of Cleveland Owens, Cleveland (Districts 251-500), Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 353, sheet 1B, line 91, family 25, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1774; FHL microfilm 2,341,508.
- ↑ Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1810-1973; Volume: Vol 173-174; Page: 408; Year Range: 1934 Oct - 1935 Aug.
- ↑ "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2QWS-D8R : 26 August 2019), Jesse Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon, 05 Jul 1935; citing Marriage, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States, , Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.
- ↑ United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW5N-GTY : accessed 1 February 2018), Jesse Owens, Ward 19, Cleveland City, Cleveland City, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 92-483, sheet 5A, line 33, family 80, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3222.
- ↑ Notice of appointment by the Governor of Alabama making Owens an honorary lieutenant colonel aide-de-camp in the Alabama State Militia, signed George C. Wallace, July 7, 1972 (Image 028), Box 11, Folder 8, Jesse Owens Collection, The Ohio State University Archives, Ohio State University.
- ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 04 February 2021), memorial page for Jesse Owens (12 Sep 1913–31 Mar 1980), Find A Grave: Memorial #2188, citing Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
- ↑ Jesse Owens at the 1936 Summer Olympics, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
- Wikidata: Item Q52651
- Wikipedia: Jesse Owens
- See also:
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O > Owens > James Cleveland Owens
Categories: USBH Notables, Needs Biography | Alabama Aides-de-Camp | Associated Press Athlete of the Year | 100 Greatest African Americans | 1936 Olympic Summer Games | Olympic Gold Medalists | Olympians Representing the United States | Track and Field | United States Olympic Hall of Fame | Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois | IAAF Hall of Fame | Presidential Medal of Freedom | Persons Appearing on US Postage Stamps | US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles | African-American Notables | Notables
Meltzer, Brad, Heroes for my son, pgs 34-35, Harper Collins Publishing
Jesse Owens' grandfater was a slave, his dad a sharecropper. He fought pnuemonia a lot. Even though many colleges fought over him, he was still not considered equal. He won highschool world records but Ohio State still would not offer him scholarships. He had to earn his way by working odd jobs to even eat. These jobs included, gas station attendant, waiter, night elevator operator, campus library worker. No one ever paid for anything for him. No one would even use his name for papers or announcing, he was called "the Negro Owens" and that he was "nonhuman". They all knew the Aryans were going to win, it was guaranteed. He ...