Hanover College Triangle on
Jesse Owens Visit
September 25, 1964
On this day in 1964, Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens visited campus and
spoke at Parker Auditorium on "Facing Tomorrow through Education and
Leadership." Many in the audience would have remembered the drama of
his winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. For an African
American to run faster and jump farther than top German athletes had been
a satisfying repudiation of Hitler's ideas of Aryan superiority. By 1964,
Owens was a popular motivational speaker, inspiring listeners with the story
of his overcoming an impoverished and disadvantaged childhood to become "the
world's fastest human." -smv
Article submitted by Andrew Bernert, '12.
N.B. The text below is transcribed verbatim.
"Jesse Owens to Talk," Hanover College Triangle, 15 Sept.
1964, 1.
Jesse Owens, former Olympic champion and noted public relations consultant,
will speak to Hanover students during an assembly October 1 in Parker Auditorium
on the topic, "Facing Tomorrow Through Education and Leadership."
Mr. Owens first became famous after setting three world track records while
a sophomore at Ohio State University in 1935. The following year he took part
in the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany and became the first participant to
win three different events since 1924.
In recent years Mr. Owens has helped to organize amateur athletic groups. He
is currently working in the area of public relations by making numerous speeches
such as the one he will present here next week.
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