John Armstrong "Army" Howard (October 6, 1888 – January 9, 1937) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

track and field athlete Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, 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 ...

. He was the first black Olympic athlete from Canada, competing in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. Details of Howard's early life are sparse: he may have been born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

or 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 ...

. In addition to his domination of Canadian sprinting, he also played baseball as a catcher on the Crescent Creamery Baseball Club in Winnipeg. He was cited by major Canadian media as Canada's best gold medal hope for the 1912 Olympics. During training for the Olympics, he ran into conflicts with chief coach

Walter Knox Walter Renwick Knox (1878 – March 3, 1951) was a Canadian track and field athlete. Born in Listowel, Ontario, Knox moved to Orillia, Ontario at the age of 15. In 1903, he attended Beloit College in Wisconsin. At the 1907 Canadian track champio ...

; according to the ''Manitoba Free Press'' of June 27, 1912, Knox accused Howard of insubordination, and, in an era when discrimination against black athletes was common, threatened to expel him from the team. The efforts of the

Amateur Athletic Union of Canada The history of Canadian sports falls into five stages of development: early recreational activities before 1840; the start of organized competition, 1840–1880; the emergence of national organizations, 1882–1914; the rapid growth of both amateur ...

kept Howard on the team. In the Olympics in Stockholm, he was hindered by a stomach ailment and stress resulting from discord with coach Knox, and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 metres competition as well as of the 200 metres event. He was also a member of the Canadian relay teams which were eliminated in the semi-final of the 4x100 metre relay competition and in the first round of the 4x400 metre relay event. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served as a

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

with the Canadian Railway Troop, then transferred to the 11th and 18th Canadian Reserve Battalions and later served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, most likely as a stretcher-bearer. He competed in the 1919

Inter-Allied Games The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of World War I. The host stadium had been built near the Bois de Vin ...

held in Paris where he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres race. He returned to Canada about two years after going to Europe with a white English wife, Edith (née Lipscomb). They homesteaded in Ste. Rose du Lac, north of Winnipeg, but were forced to leave by hostility to the interracial marriage. Howard found work as a railway porter. Later, the marriage broke up. He is the grandfather of Olympic sprinters

Harry Jerome Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and Valerie Jerome. In 2000, John Howard was inducted into the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

References

External links

John Howard's military service file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, John 1888 births 1937 deaths Canadian male sprinters Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Black Canadian baseball players Baseball people from Manitoba Athletes from Winnipeg Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps soldiers Black Canadian track and field athletes American emigrants to Canada Canadian people of African-American descent Canadian military personnel of World War I