Interesting article on George Jewett, UM's first black football player
A quick search didn't turn up the link to this article, so...
First, the link: http://michigantoday.umich.edu/story.php?id=8143
We hear the name George Jewett once in a while on this board, with some of us recognizing him as the first African-American to ever play football at UM in 1890-- and the last for four decades until 1932, mostly courtesy of Fielding Yost --a story well told in a John Bacon article StephenRKass linked to last month: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120224/OPINION03/202240431/1131/sports0201/Willis-Ward-Gerald-Ford-were-their-best-when-U-M-wasn-t)
Michigan Today has a interesting article linked above that just introduces you to Jewett and his accomplishments off the field as well as on. It's not long and really, really worth a read
As you'd expect, there are some ugly stories of what he faced from opposing teams and fans who weren't, let's say, very "progressive" in their racial attitudes. Even by 1890 standards. But what's really interesting about the article is how accomplished the guy was. Summary:
- Captained the football, baseball, and debate teams at Ann Arbor H.S.
- Graduated as high school valedictorian
- Spoke German, French, and Italian
- Earned his medical degree from Northwestern in 1894, also becoming NW's first black football player
- Practiced medicine in Chicago before moving back to Ann Arbor to run a store on State St. called "The Valet" that pressed/cleaned clothes (evidently more lucrative than medicine back in the day)
- Led UM to an 18-0 victory over the Amos Alonzo Stagg-led U of Chicago (the original Monsters of the Midway)
- Scored 3 touchdowns in one half against powerhouse Oberlin, coached by John Heisman (YTH), and added another late in the game that Oberlin and Michigan still dispute to this day
He passed away after a heart attack in 1908 at age 38. There are probably plenty of folks who live on Jewett Ave. in Ann Arbor who don't realize what a great Michigan Man their street is named for.
Great find. Thanks for sharing!
Didn't they just find out that Courtney Avery was related to him? Not directly or anything, but distantly related.
Great article too
March 20th, 2012 at 10:49 AM ^
...correct sir. Here's the link to the piece on MGoBlue.com.
March 20th, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^
March 20th, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
Speaking of his relation to Avery, this is a great article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/02/16/146981369/the-charlemagne-riddle Obviously Jewett's not going back nearly that far but interesting to think about how many African-Americans in the Midwest may be related to him. Probably more than you'd think.
March 20th, 2012 at 12:39 PM ^
That's an interesting link, although it has an error. Charlemagne wasn't nicknamed "the Hammer." That was his grandfather, Charles Martel (who earned that nickname after defeating the Arabs at Tours). Martel means "hammer" in old French.
Makes me proud to be a Wolverine and an Afro American. Michigan truly has some of the best people this world has to offer.
I probably book mark 1 or 2 articles or videos from this site every 6 months. The content on here is so good that it is hard not to do it constantly. That just made the cut.