Monday, July 23, 1934

Mother is still sick. Daddy and I went down to Mart's for dinner. I stayed all night at Rita Mae's.

Helen Stephens (1918-1994)

Growing up on a farm in Callaway County near Fulton, Missouri, Helen loved to run and jump and climb. She also had to work hard on the family farm. By the time she was in high school, her coach was working with her
and took her to St. Louis for her first official race. She beat Stella Walsh, a Polish gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics, in the 50-meter dash at 6.6 seconds, setting a new indoor record on a dirt track.

On August 4, 1936, eighteen-year-old Helen Stephens set the Olympic world record for the 100-meter event at 11.5 seconds. Her record stood for twenty-four years until Wilma Rudolph beat it in the 1960 Olympics. On August 9, Stephens was the anchor in the 400-meter relay team that also set a world record time of 46.9 seconds. She received a gold medal for each event.

Helen returned to Fulton after the Olympics and earned a degree from William
Woods College. She paved the way for future female athletes of all ages. She is in the National and United States Track and Field Halls of Fame as well as the Women’s Hall of Fame. Helen Stephens died on January 17, 1994. She is buried in Fulton, Missouri.



Friday, June 23, 1933

Gweyn and I took Sonny and Baby Doll walking. We went over to Carmines'. We saw Pauline and Fay.

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (1913 - 1980)

Born the seventh of eleven children in Oakville, Alabama, Jesse moved with
his family when he was nine to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Great Migration
of Negro families from the segregated South. His junior high coach, Charles Riley,
recognized his running talent and encouraged that talent by accommodating his practice
schedule. Owens first came to national attention in high school. He equaled the world
record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard (91m) dash and long-jumped 24 feet 9 1/2 inches
(7.56m) at the 1933 National High School Championship.

Known as the "Buckeye Bullet" at Ohio State University, Owens won eight
individual NCAA championships - this while going to school and working to pay
his tuition and living expenses. In 1936, Owens competed in the Olympics in Nazi
Germany and won four gold medals - blowing the Nazi propoganda about "Aryan
racial superiority" out of the water. On the first day a miffed Hitler shook hands only
with the German medalists and then left the Olympic stadium. After the Olympic
committee said he had to shake hands with all the medalists or none of them, Hitler
chose the latter.

Prohibited from amateur sporting appearances, Owens ran a dry-cleaning business
and worked as a gas-station attendant to support his family in still-segregated America
until he eventually filed for bankruptcy. He was later successfully prosecuted for tax
evasion. In 1966 he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the government and
traveled the world speaking and making appearances. He died of lung cancer at his
home in Tuscon, Arizona. Jess Owens is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.