Abraham Jerome Cohn (June 27, 1897 – October 23, 1970) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, coach and official. He played football and basketball at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1917 to 1920. He coached football and basketball at

Whitworth College Whitworth University is a Private university, private, Christianity, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more t ...

from 1921 to 1922 and at

Spokane University Spokane University was a four-year liberal arts college that operated from 1913 to 1933. It was founded in 1912 by Mr. B. E. Utz and Mr. W. D. Willoughby as Spokane Bible College. Mr. Utz worked at Eugene Bible University in Eugene, Oregon from 19 ...

from 1923 to 1924. He was also an official for the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

and the supervisor of the Washington State Liquor Board's licensing bureau from 1934 to 1968.

Early years

Cohn was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in 1897. His parents, Hyman (sometimes listed as Herman) and Eva Cohn, emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1884 or 1885, and were identified in U.S. Census records as "Russian Yiddish."Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Spokane Ward 3, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T624_1671; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0178; Image: 74; FHL Number: 1375684. At the time of the 1900 Census, Cohn was living with his parents and four older siblings in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

.Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Census Place: Spokane Ward 3, Spokane, Washington; Roll: T623_1751; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 68. Cohn's father and two uncles founded the Cohn Brothers furniture store in Spokane in the 1890s. Over the next 40 years, the family continued to operate the store at the same location. Cohn attended Spokane's

Lewis and Clark High School Lewis and Clark High School is a four-year public secondary school in Spokane, Washington, United States. Opened in 1912, it is located at 521 W. Fourth Ave. in the Cliff/Cannon neighborhood of downtown Spokane, bounded by I-90 to the north and ...

where he was a star football and basketball player. He was "remembered by Spokane football enthusiasts as the plunging back of the 1915 Lewis and Clark high school football team."

University of Michigan

Cohn enrolled at the

in 1916. He was a member of the law school class of 1921. While at Michigan, he played halfback for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams of 1917, 1918 and 1920. The 1918 team completed the season undefeated and has been rated by some as the national championship team of 1918. After Michigan's victory over Case to open the 1918 season, the ''Detroit Free Press'' called Abe Cohn "an eye opener" as a ground gainer and noted: "He made a gain practically every time he was given the ball and, when he was stopped, it always took two or three men to turn the trick." Cohn did not try out for the football team in 1919. Having only one year of varsity eligibility remaining, and with many players returning to college following service in World War I, Coach Yost recommended that Cohn save his final year for the 1920 season. He returned to the Wolverines football team in 1920. The 1921 ''Michiganensian'' (University of Michigan yearbook) noted, "Cohn was especially valuable, filling in at end when the occasion demanded." The authors added, "A heavy, fast player, who was a regular halfback, but could take his place at end or fullback if occasion demanded. He is one of the stars lost by graduation." Cohn also played for the

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nation ...

team. He was a starting forward in 1918.

Later years

After graduating from Michigan, Cohn returned to Spokane. In September 1921, he was appointed as the football and basketball coach at

. He coached at Whitworth for two years and also coached at

Mead High School Mead High School (also Mead Senior High School, MHS) is a four-year public secondary school in Spokane, Washington, United States. MHS is one of two traditional high schools in the Mead School District #354 and has an enrollment of around 1,600 ...

in the mornings. Cohn was the head football coach at

in 1923 and 1924. In 1924, ''The Michigan Alumnus'' reported that Cohn was affiliated with Cohn Brothers Furniture, the furniture business begun by his father. Cohn remained a partner in the furniture business until the store's closure in 1960. In 1932, Cohn was living in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He served as a football and basketball official for 30 years, including approximately eight years as a football official for the

from 1930 to 1937. Cohn also worked for many years for the

Washington State Liquor Control Board The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, formerly the Washington State Liquor Control Board, is an administrative agency of the State of Washington. The Liquor and Cannabis Board is part of the executive branch and reports to the Governor. ...

. He began with a position as the assistant manager of Liquor Store No. 2 in Seattle. He was the supervisor of the Liquor Board's licensing bureau from 1934 until his retirement in 1968. Cohn was married to Alta Clark. In October 1970, Cohn died of a heart attack in Seattle. He was age 73 at the time of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Abe 1897 births 1970 deaths American football ends American football halfbacks American people of Russian-Jewish descent Basketball coaches from Washington (state) Basketball referees College football officials Forwards (basketball) Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Whitworth Pirates football coaches University of Michigan Law School alumni Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Spokane, Washington Basketball players from Portland, Oregon Basketball players from Spokane, Washington Jewish American basketball players Whitworth Pirates men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players 20th-century American Jews Jewish American players of American football Jews from Oregon Jews from Washington (state)

Early years

University of Michigan

Later years

See also

References