Archie Haggie Harris Jr. (July 3, 1918 – October 29, 1965) was an American world-record-setting discus thrower and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. Raised in Ocean City, New Jersey, Harris graduated in 1937 from Ocean City High School. As an Indiana University student-athlete, Harris won the

1940 NCAA Track and Field Championships The 1940 NCAA Track and Field Championships was the 19th NCAA track and field championship. The event was held at the University of Minnesota's Memorial Stadium in June 1940. The University of Southern California won its sixth consecutive team ...

, defending his title

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

with the world record of 53.26 m. In 1941 he also became US champion. At, Indiana, Harris also played football, lettering on the Indiana Hoosiers football team in 1938, and 1939, and 1940. He was a second-team selection on the

1940 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1940 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1940 Big Ten Conference football season. All Big-T ...

as an end. During World War II Harris joined the United States Army Air Forces, reaching the rank of second lieutenant and serving as a bomber pilot in the 332d Fighter Group, known as the Tuskegee Airmen. An African American, he was unable to find a job as a commercial pilot after the war. He became physical education teacher at the YMCA in Harlem. In 2001 he was inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. Harris died on October 29, 1965, at Veterans Administration Hospital in New York City.

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* * 1918 births 1965 deaths American football ends American male discus throwers Indiana Hoosiers football players Indiana Hoosiers men's track and field athletes People from Ocean City, New Jersey Sportspeople from Cape May County, New Jersey Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Players of American football from New Jersey Track and field athletes from New Jersey African-American track and field athletes American male track and field athletes Military personnel from New Jersey 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-discusthrow-athletics-bio-stub