Jessie Abbott (1897–1982) was a member of the Tuskegee Institute community and was married to
Cleveland Abbott
Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott (some sources say "Cleveland S. Abbott") (December 9, 1894 – April 14, 1955) was an American football player, coach and educator. He was the head coach of the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team fr ...
.
Together they worked to create one of the first organized women's college athletic programs at Tuskegee.
They coached the first all-Black girls' track team to enter the Olympics.
Jessie Abbott acted as the secretary for the wives of the presidents of Tuskegee as well as George Washington Carver.
Biography
She was born on 23 March 1897 and went to school in
Des Moines, Iowa. She met her future husband,
Cleveland Abbott
Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott (some sources say "Cleveland S. Abbott") (December 9, 1894 – April 14, 1955) was an American football player, coach and educator. He was the head coach of the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team fr ...
, at the
Drake Relays
The Drake Relays (officially the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom) is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', i ...
while he was a student at South Dakota State College.
She died on 12 August 1982 in Tuskegee, Alabama.
References
External links
Jessie Abbott Interview Transcript, 1976-1981OH-31. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Jessie
Black Women Oral History Project
African-American sportswomen
Tuskegee Golden Tigers track and field coaches
People from Des Moines, Iowa
1897 births
1982 deaths
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
20th-century American people