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Lot # 1074: Circa 1936 Jesse Owens Photograph - Gold Medal Olympic Era (PSA Type I)

Starting Bid: $100.00

Bids: 26 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "2023 Summer Classic",
which ran from 7/16/2023 7:00 PM to
8/5/2023 10:00 PM



Jesse Owens was pressured not to go to the 1936 Olympics because of Adolf Hitler's racist policies, but Owens decided to go anyway, and he embarrassed Hitler by standing the Fuhrer's Aryan Supremacy myth on its head as Jesse won four gold medals. Offered is a Type I 1936 original Chicago Tribune Jesse Owens photograph. Owens was born in Alabama in 1913, and as a youth he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio. His actual name was James Cleveland Owens, and he was known in Alabama as "J.C.", but upon moving to Cleveland, a new teacher asked Jesse his name and Owens said "J.C.", but the teacher misinterpreted his answer and his name became "Jesse" from then on. Owens attended Ohio State University, and in the offered photo, Owens is seated bare-footed, smiling and relaxed, near a running track wearing his Ohio State University track and field uniform. In his 1936 Olympic appearances, held right under Hitler's nose in Berlin, Germany, Owens won gold medals: On August 3rd in the 100-meter dash; on August 4th in he long jump; on August 5th in the 200-meter sprint; on August 9th in 4x100-meter relay. In the aforementioned relay, it is speculated that U.S. Olympic officials did not want to offend Hitler by using two Jewish runners, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, so Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, two African Americans, replaced the Jewish runners. Most likely the United States would have won using either line-up, but Hitler was placated. The 7.5x9.3" photo has a small tear in the lower right corner and there is some minor paper loss in a few spots. The photograph has been encapsulated PSA/DNA certified Type I AUTHENTIC.

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