Biography:

Athlete, entertainer, businessman. Born– September 12, 1913, Danville. Parents– Henry and Emma (Alexander) Owens. Married– Ruth Solomon. Children– Three. Education– Ohio State University, A.B., 1937. Worked as an entertainer, served as WPA official; established a dry cleaning business, and became a salesman, 1937-1940. Employed by the Office of Civil Defense in Philadelphia, 1940-1942; Ford Motor Company, 1942-1946; military service, 1944; director of sport sales and part owner of a Negro baseball club, Portland, Ore., 1942-1956; secretary of the Illinois Athletic Commission, 1952-1955. Operated a public relations and marketing firm in Chicago, later Phoenix, 1955-. Member of the Illinois Youth Commission. In the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, won four medals for 100, 200, 400 meter races and the running broad jump; broke two Olympic records and one world record.

Source:

Current Biography, Vol. 80N and Who’s Who in America, 1980.

Publication(s):

Track and Field. New York; Atheneum, 1976.

Joint_Publication(s):

Blackthink; My Life as Black Man and White Man. New York; Morrow, 1970.

I Have Changed. New York; Morrow, 1972.

Jesse, A Spiritual Autobiography. Plainfield, N.J.; Logos International, 1978.

The Jesse Owens Story. New York; Putnam, 1970.

Jesse, the Man Who Outran Hitler. New York; Fawcett Gold Medal, 1978.