Fritz Pollard Jr. (February 18, 1915 – February 15, 2003) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the

110 metre hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten ...

, winning a bronze model at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Biography

Pollard's father was Fritz Pollard Sr., the first African American head coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. While a student at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

, Pollard Jr. was a running back for the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team in addition to running on the school's track and field team. He was "picked All North Central Conference in 1937 and 1938, and was a Collier's Magazine Little All-America selection in football in 1938."University of North Dakota
/ref> He also competed as a member of the university's varsity boxing team. Pollard competed for the United States in the

in the 110 meter hurdles, winning the bronze medal. In 2016, the 1936 Olympic journey of the eighteen Black American athletes, including Pollard, was documented in the film '' Olympic Pride, American Prejudice''. As a student, Pollard majored in physical education, joined the

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity, and received his bachelor's degree in 1939, becoming one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the University of North Dakota. He went on to earn a law degree from John Marshall Law School in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He also served in the U.S. Army as a special services officer during World War II. After a stint working in the Chicago parks and recreation department, he became a

Foreign Service officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

and retired in 1981 as the director of the State Department's overseas schools for US citizens. Pollard Jr. was predeceased by his daughter Cheryl Pollard and survived by his son Fritz D. Pollard III (1955–2022), and two grandchildren Meredith Kaye Russell and Marcus Stephan Pollard.

References

*''Greek bibliography'': Andreou, Evangelos: ''The star of champion shone...'' (''Frederick "Fritz" Pollard"'' p. 30) Ευάγγελος Ανδρέου, ''Το αστέρι του πρωταθλητή άνα ψε... / ο βαλκανιονίκης του μεσοπολέμου Γιάννης Σκιαδάς'', EUARCE 2011 (''"Φρεντερίκ Πολάρντ/Frederick "Fritz" Pollard" σ. 30'')

External links

*
History of the Olympic Trials

*
University of North Dakota
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Fritz Jr. 1915 births 2003 deaths American male hurdlers African-American track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics North Dakota Fighting Hawks football players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field University of North Dakota alumni Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen University of North Dakota Olympic medalists North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's track and field athletes