On this day in 1924, U-M alum DeHart Hubbard became the first Black American to win Olympic gold. In 1962, Roger Roberts became Lansing’s first Black firefighter.
TRANSCRIPT
Long Jumper DeHart Hubbard leapt into history on this day in 1924 when he became the first Black American to win Olympic gold. Twenty-four feet, five and a half inches, brought home the win. Hubbard shattered the world record the next year in Chicago with 25-foot 10-inch jump, that an extra foot and a half. Hubbard was also a U of M grad. One of only 8 black students to graduate in the 1927 class of over 1400 students. He is a three-time NCAA champion and a 7 time Big Ten champion in track and field. He retired in 1969. Though he died in Cleveland in 1976. Hubbard was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1979.
And in 1962 Roger Roberts became the very first Black firefighter to serve in Lansing, who according to the Lansing State Journal, Roberts served the city from 1962 to 1973.