George Coleman Poage (November 6, 1880 – April 11, 1962) was an American
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
athlete. He was the first black and the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
athlete to win a medal in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,312, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Mario ...
, his family moved to
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
in 1884. After his father, James, died in 1888, George Poage, along with his mother and surviving sibling, moved into the home of Mary and Lucian Easton; Lucian was the son of local lumberman Jason Easton, who employed James in his stables.
At La Crosse High School Poage excelled as both a student and an athlete; he was considered the top athlete at the school and, in 1899, was the class
salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tradi ...
, becoming the school's first African-American graduate.
College and Olympic years
The following fall he became a freshman at the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. After competing with the freshman track squad in 1900, he joined the varsity
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
team during his sophomore year. Poage was the first black athlete to run for UW, specializing in the short
sprints
Sprint may refer to:
Aerospace
*Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design
*Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile
Automotive and motorcycle
* Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989
*Chevrolet Sprint ...
and
hurdle
A hurdle (UK English, limited US English) is a moveable section of light fence. In the United States, terms such as "panel", "pipe panel" or simply "fence section" are used to describe moveable sections of fencing intended for agricultural us ...
s. A consistent point winner for his team, he quickly became well respected. When the track coach was called out of town in 1902, he placed Poage in charge of the team in his absence.
Poage graduated in 1903 with a degree in
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
. His senior thesis was titled "An Investigation into the Economic Condition of the Negro in the State of Georgia During the Period of 1860–1900". He returned to the University for the 1903–04 school year to take
graduate classes in History, supported by the UW athletic department, which hired him as an athletic trainer for the football team. In June 1904, he became the first African-American individual
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
track champion in conference history, placing first in both the
440-yard dash
The 440-yard dash, or quarter-mile race, is a sprint race in track and field competitions.
In many countries, athletes compete in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m) – which corresponds to a quarter mile. Many athletic tracks are 440 yards ...
and the 220-yard hurdles.
The
Milwaukee Athletic Club
The Milwaukee Athletic Club (often referred to as The MAC), is a private, social and full-service athletic club.
History
Eight young men founded the Milwaukee Athletic Club on September 18, 1882, for the express purpose of "developing of the b ...
sponsored Poage to compete in the
1904 Summer Olympics
The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...
in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. Many prominent African-American leaders had called for a boycott of the games to protest
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
of the events in St. Louis. An integrated audience was not allowed at either the Olympics or the
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
as the organizers had built segregated facilities for the spectators.
Poage chose to compete in four events and became the first black and the first African-American to medal in the Games by winning the bronze in both the
200-yard and
400-yard hurdles.
Later years
Poage remained in St. Louis after the Olympics, working as a school principal for a year before becoming a teacher at segregated Charles Sumner High School. At Sumner, he was the head of the English department, teaching English composition, literature, and Latin, helped coach the school’s sports teams, and supervised various extracurricular activities such as debate and theater.
In 1914, Poage left his job at Sumner. According to a former student, he purchased a farm in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, although no land records of the purchase have been found. Local historian Margaret Lichter and Bruce Mouser have speculated that the land was owned by the Easton family.
In 1920, Poage moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. He worked in a restaurant for four years.
In 1924, Poage was hired by the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
and worked as a postal clerk for nearly thirty years. After his retirement in the 1950s he remained in Chicago until his death in 1962.
Legacy
Poage was elected to the
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...
in 1998.
In 2013, the La Crosse City Council renamed Hood Park to George C. Poage Park in Poage's honor.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poage, George
1880 births
1962 deaths
African-American male track and field athletes
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
American male sprinters
American male hurdlers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1904 Summer Olympics
People from Hannibal, Missouri
Sportspeople from La Crosse, Wisconsin
Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field
20th-century African-American people