This is part 2 in a series of posts that explore the questions and issues of preparing a sport history course. The first post introduced the course and discussed selecting books and other materials. This post explores issues of organization and choosing what to include. The series’ final post will appear on July 20, and will…
This Fall I’m teaching a new course. I really enjoyed teaching the second half of the U.S. history survey last fall, so I’m thrilled to be back in the classroom. The class is called “The Black Athlete” and is a regular offering in the African-American Studies program here at Purdue. I’ve been assigned to teach it…
Whenever Chris Rock speaks, I listen [and then I usually laugh]. Rock is a comedic genius or the one comic who possesses the outstanding ability at least to disturb my good manners time and time again with belly-aching guffaws. He has thrived in his role as my generation’s most successful black humorist, plying his craft…
In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, local runner Florence Griffith (who later added the Joyner) burst onto the international scene. The relatively unknown runner earned two silver medals; however, the fame Griffith garnered actually stemmed more from her colorful, four-inch long fingernails and clothing decisions than her speedy feats. Four years later in the Seoul…
By Wesley R. Bishop Any notion that the United States was in a “post racial” society ended last summer. Preceded by the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, the high profile murders of unarmed black civilians returned with the shooting of Michael Brown. Then the deaths of John Crawford, Tamir Rice, and Eric…
Former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren said, “I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man’s failures.” Many fans followed his lead. Reflecting on America’s obsession with sport in 1994, historian Richard O. Davies wrote, “The void often left unfulfilled by…
Sport in American History 