William "Bill" Arthur Carr (October 24, 1909 – January 14, 1966) was an American
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
and double
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
champion in 1932.
Called the "Arkansas flyer," Carr never lost a race during his college and Olympic career.
Early life and education
Carr was born and raised in
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...
.
His parents were Ann Holmes and William L. Carr, a traveling salesman with the Mann-Tankersley Drug Co.
He received his elementary school education at Lakeside School in Pine Bluff.
He attended
Pine Bluff High School
Pine Bluff High School (PBHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. It, a part of the Pine Bluff School District, is the largest of three public high schools in the Pine Bluff city limits and four public hi ...
in 1925.
In his freshman year, he joined the track team because he was too small for basketball or football.
He demonstrated skill at jumping, but he broke both ankles leaping over a bar and had resign late in the season.
Carr was recruited back to the high school track team in 1927.
He received national attention at the spring state meet in
Arkandelphia for his record–making high jump of 6.75 feet and a long jump of 21 feet 4 inches.
In addition to winning those two events, he came in second at the 100-yard sprint and 220-yard sprint.
In a prior track meet, he had already matched the Arkansas record in the 100-yard event.
As a result, national sports writers were calling him the top high school track star in the United States.
A local banker convinced Carr to enroll in the
Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...
in
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, located near the southern border of Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is southwest of Harrisburg, the state capital.
Due to its location in a rural area, it had a relatively large percentage ...
for 1928 in preparation for an Ivy League college.
There, he was coached by
Jimmy Curran
James Michael Curran (January 7, 1880 – February 7, 1963) was an athletics coach, best known for training five Olympic gold medallists. From 1900-1902 he fought with the Highland Light Infantry in the Second Boer War, serving much of that time u ...
. While he was at Mercersburg, they won the annual inter-scholastic track meet to become state champions.
Carr was the Pennsylvania champion in the 100-meter sprint, the 200-meter sprint, and the long jump, setting a state record for the latter.
He graduated from Mercersburg in the spring of 1929.
Carr was recruited by the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and started there in 1929.
He was on the track team and served as its co-captain.
At Penn, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (
St. Anthony Hall
St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the Calendar of saints, feast day of Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony the Great. The frater ...
) and a member of the
Sphinx Senior Society
The Sphinx Senior Society is one of the oldest senior honor societies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The organization, founded in 1900, is self-perpetuating and consists of a maximum of 30 members selected annually ...
.
He was president of the sophomore class and received the Golden Spoon as the "most outstanding, all-around student."
For three years, he received the Varsity Club scholarship "for scholastic excellence, character and athletic ability."
He graduated from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private Ivy League rese ...
in 1933 with a B.S. in economics.
Track and field
At the University of Pennsylvania, Carr was coached by 1904 Olympian
Lawson Robertson
Lawson N. Robertson (September 23, 1883 – January 22, 1951) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He was a member of and trainer for the Irish American Athletic Club, and competed for the U.S. Olympic T ...
who called him "the fastest Carr in America."
In college, he never lost the 400-meter sprint.
He also anchored the 1,600-meter relay team—which also never lost a competition during his college years.
His favorite events became the long jump, the 440-meter, and the 800-meter.
He was the 1931
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...
Indoor national champion in the 300-yards event.
At the 1932 Intercollegiate Championships (
IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...
) championships in
Berkeley California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryvi ...
, Carr beat world-record holder
Ben Eastman
Benjamin Bangs Eastman (July 19, 1911 – October 6, 2002), alias "Blazin' Ben", was an American middle distance runner. He was born in Burlingame, California, and graduated from Stanford University in 1933.
He competed for the United ...
in the 440-yard dash, winning the IC4A 440-yard title for 1932.
His time was 47.0 seconds; Eastman's record was 46.4 seconds.
Carr was ranked number one in the world at the 400-meters.at the end of the 1932 season.
Several weeks later in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
, Carr again outran Eastman at the 1932 USA Outdoor Championships and
1932 United States Olympic trials (track and field).
In addition to making the United States Olympic team, Carr was also a favorite for the 400-meter gold medal at the
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California.
On August 4, 1932 in Los Angeles Olympics, Carr placed first in his semi-final 400-meter heat with a time of 47.2 seconds, breaking
Eric Liddell
Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended boarding school near London, spending time when p ...
’s world record time of 47.6 seconds from the
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...
.
However, Eastman matched Liddell’s record in his semi-final heat, setting up a final Olympic race that ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the “400-meter race of the century."
In the final, Eastman led during most of the race, but Carr emerged victorious in the last 100-meters with a time of 46.2 seconds.
He had not only won a gold medal, but he also had set a world record.
A few days later, Carr won another gold medal as the anchor of America's 4 × 400-meter relay team.
Although not scheduled to complete, he substituted for Arnold Adams who had to withdraw due to an injury.
They set a new world record of 3:08.2.
Back at college in 1933, Carr had a "lackluster" performance in the spring season.
On January 25, 1933, he announced that he would retire from track after the 1993 season.
He said, "I expect to be a member of the United States track and field team that will tour Europe next summer. When the team returns, my uniform and spiked shoes will be put away for good."
He planned on retiring so that he could focus on a new career in business.
World Records
Honors
* In 2008, Carr was inducted into the
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...
.
* Carr was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1962.
* Carr was selected for the ''Sports Illustrated'' 's All-Time Olympic Team in 1954.
* He was selected as the number one 400-meter runner for 1925-49 by ''Track & Field News World Athletes of the Century.
* The Bill Carr Memorial Room at the
Pine Bluff Public Library is named in his honor.
* A statue of Carr was installed at Franklin Field of the University of Pennsylvania.
* A statue was dedicated in his honor at
Mercersburg Preparatory Academy.
* In 1932, he received a special trophy from his hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Later life
On March 18, 1933, Carr was in a car accident that broke both his ankles and his right pelvis.
At the time of the two-car accident, he was standing on the car's running board.
He was in the hospital for four week and was not able to compete in track again.
He had a slight limp as a result of his injuries.
In 1934, Carr started working for the
Insurance Company of North America
Insurance Company of North America (INA) is the oldest stock insurance company in the United States, founded in Philadelphia in 1792. It was one of the largest American insurance companies of the 19th and 20th centuries before merging with Connect ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he joined the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
, serving as an officer in naval intelligence the
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
.
While there, he met his wife, Rachel Elizabeth Manasseh, in
Shanghai, China
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
.
She was a lecturer and writer about Oriental art.
They had one son, Alain.
After the war, they lived in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
where he became the Far Eastern general manager of the Insurance Company of North America.
Next, he worked for
Pan-American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
as the general personnel manager.
He became the executive director of the International Center for overseas students in Midtown, New York.
He then moved to
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
where he was both vice president of Prismo Safety Products, a Pennsylvania highway safety and building equipment company, and the Far East representative of the Potter Brothers, a highway building equipment dealer from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
In 1966, Carr died from
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
in Tokyo at the age of 56.
He was buried in Graceland Cemetery in
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...
.
References
f
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Bill
1909 births
1966 deaths
Mercersburg Academy alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
St. Anthony Hall
Sportspeople from Pine Bluff, Arkansas
American male sprinters
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics
Insurance agents
Deaths from congestive heart failure
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni