Jesse Owens

James Cleveland Owens was born September 12, 1913 in a small town in Alabama, and grew up there until he was nine years old. Jesse's family consisted of his six brothers and three sisters; his mom and dad and himself. His brothers' names were Prentice, Johnson, Hennery, Ernest, Quincy, and Sylvester. And his sisters' names were Ida, Josephine, and Lillie. Imagine having to feed the whole family even though Jesse's parents were sharecroppers, which means they lived on another farmer's land in a ratty shed of a home.

At age fifteen, Jesse fell in love with a lovely young lady named Minnie Ruth Solomon who later in life became his wife, and they had three beautiful little girls. After setting national records in high school, he became an All-american. On May 25, 1935, at the Big Ten conference, Owens broke three world records and tied a fourth, all in a seventy minute span. When Jesse Owens was a sophomore at Ohio State University, his nickname was "Buckeye Bullet" because he was so fast of course!

A lot of hardships James Clevland Owens (Jesse Owens) had were, a lot of pepole said that he would never achieve anything because he was black. Jesse Owens proved to Nazi Germany that any individual could achieve greatness, regardless of race, religion or national origin. That is one hardship Jesse had to face. Another one is that when he was little he had pneumonia and had little boils all over his body and the family couldn't afford a doctor because of how poor and needy they were. So Emma (Jesse's mom) had to do her own at-home surgery by getting a hot knife and carving the boils out herself while her husband held jesse stil. Henry, (Jesse's dad), said it killed him to see his son in pain like that. In James Clevland Owen's lifetime, he's had great times and downright horrible times. That is what makes life worth living.

Jesse Owens had many outstanding accomplishments. He made a jump of 26"3 1/4 inches in a broad jump. Another big accoplishment he made was when Jesse Owens received a medal of freedom given by President Ford in 1976. Then his Olympic team won the 400-meter relay in 39.9 seconds. Jesse Owens also did the 200-meter dash in 20.7 seconds. Unlike his child hood, Jesse was no longer needy or poor.

Jesse showed heroism many times. He is remembered for a stunning week in 1936, when he won four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics. The summer games that year were held in Berlin, where the Nazi leader Adolph Hitler seemed determined to display the superiority of the Germans. But James Cleveland Owens (Jesse Owens) was determined to become the best runner out there! Another way Jesse Owens was a hero was he contributed things. For example he showed people that if you want it bad enough, and if you work hard for it and keep telling yourself you can do it, you will succeed! Sadly, James Clevland Owens died March 31, 1980 because of lung cancer.