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Home , Jack Johnson (boxer), Stanley Ketchel

Jack ‘The Galveston Giant’ Johnson ​ ​ ​ ​

National History Day Historical Paper- Junior Division By: Andrew Weinstock 2377 Words

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Introduction

If I asked you to name somebody who broke the color barrier in sports, who could you name? Jackie Robinson, or Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall probably come to mind? However, as great as these athletes were, Jack ‘The Galveston Giant’ Johnson should also be recognized.

Johnson was the world's first African American champion boxer who was one of the first athletes to break the color barrier in sports. His debut was 39 years before Jackie Robinson did the same, in the sport of baseball. , in the height of the Jim Crow era, was not an easy feat due to the racial inequalities. , however, had the courage and stamina to challenge the barrier that had been in place since the Civil War which tried to prevent him from competing as a professional. He took advantage of opportunities to make him famous, yet also infamous, rising himself up among other boxers to eventually win the title and eventually go down as one of the greats.

Early Life

Born on March 31st, 1878, 13 years after the Civil War, Johnson grew up in an integrated part of Galveston, Texas, where he was the third of nine children. Although he wasn’t very close with his siblings, he was very close to his mom, Tina Johnson. He was raised by his two parents,

Tina and Henry Johnson, who were both previously slaves. Jack only had five years of school before he left to work at a local shipyard to help provide for his family. This was where he picked up boxing against other workers for fun, also where he could earn extra money (for

2 boxing) on the side. The shipyard workers had it set up so that it was like a tournament where the guy who beats everyone else wins money in the pool. Realizing this, Johnson took this as an opportunity to train and get better.

Beginning Of His Career ​

From the beginning of his career, there was a clear distinction between Johnson and his coworkers. Johnson stood at 6’1”, which for that era, was pretty tall. He and his coworkers would box each other for fun at the end of their shifts. This was about the closest thing he and his coworkers could do to being pro boxers at that time. However, it did not take long for people in this field to notice him and within a few years, he had his first major boxing match in 1897.

Ironically, it took place at the same Shipyard he was previously employed at and got his start.

His victory came in 16 rounds and he collected the pool of $1.50. He started becoming more noticable and getting more fame (as time passed). A year or two into his career, he beat boxer,

Bob Thompson, and won $25 dollars. By 1901, Johnson had won a lot more matches and he started to become a household name around Texas. That's when he was challenged by a caucasion boxer, . During this fight, in the third round, Johnson actually got knocked out by either a right or left hook (varies by the source you read). After this, police had stopped the fight and both boxers were jailed for 23 days.

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Racism & Criticism from Media

Throughout Johnson’s career, the media tried a lot of things to diminish him as a professional boxer and even sometimes as a person. Later in his career when he beat Bob

Fitzsimmons, The Times tried making a lot of excuses and undermining the match between the two by saying, “Although Johnson’s victory was clean-cut… There is little credit attached to it” (Eligon, Thorpe, 2018). Fitzsimmons had injured his arm in training so therefore “[his arm] was practically useless”. even went so far as to call Johnson ‘The Big Black’ or ‘The Big Negro’ (Eligon, Thorpe, 2018). Jack London, an author and someone who wrote the front page story for a newspaper after a different fight had said, “Personally, I was with Burns all the way. He is a white man and so am I. Naturally I wanted to see the white man win”(Cochrane, 2018). Later in the article he described the fight as

“a hopeless slaughter” (Cochrane, 2018) against the Canadian Tommy Burns. All of those quotes had one thing in common, which was popular at the time; newspapers were noticeably racist and would do anything to see an African American person fail. Although some media at the time had mixed reviews about Johnson, which was mostly negative, saying that his style of boxing was ‘boring’ or ‘too simple’. The media also said more disgusting things that would have never been a thought in today’s society such as,”negro [boxer] and convicted white slaver… [who disapointed] boxing and his race… abused the fame and fortune that came to him”

(Cochrane, 2018). The papers also snobbishly said, “Johnson is far above the average negro, both mentally and physically” (Cochrane, 2018).

Breaking the Color Barrier & Other Important Matches

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Johnson knocking out Tommy Burns, Via, Houstonchronicle.com

In 1903, he beat Ed Martin in the (unofficial) Colored Heavyweight

Championship. During this era, depending on the sport, people of color could only participate in leagues called Negro Leagues or it was extremely difficult to be able to particpate at all against white people. Fortunately for Johnson he could partake in a championship, even though it wasn’t highly regarded at the time. By 1904, Johnson was so confident in his abilities, that there were numerous accounts of him calling out Jim Jefferies a caucasion who was the Heavyweight

Champion. But Jefferies refused to fight people of color. In 1907 Johnson beat boxer Bob

Fitzsimmons. Also in 1907, Tommy Burns, a Candian boxer, was the next heavyweight champion. So Johnson started calling out Burns in the media, and showing up to his fights and verbally taunting him. Promoters wanted to see the fight, so did Johnson, and Burns only agreed

5 to do the fight if he was guaranteed $30,000, so the fight was scheduled for December 26th, 1908 at Rushcutters Bay in , Australia. Very few of the 20,000 people who showed up for the fight were actually cheering for Johnson. This was noticeable in the fight’s recording when

Johnson landed some punches and the crowd had no reaction, but it was the exact opposite when

Burns landed a good hit. Johnson actually knocked out Burns in 14 rounds, and the referee had declared Johnson as the winner. Johnson became the world’s first African American

Heavyweight Champion of the world. He broke the color barrier, which was a huge blow to segregation, due to the fact that it challenged the notion at the time that black people were

‘inferior’. The United States was, to be frank, shocked at the turnout of the fight. White people were fed up with Johnson and his “antics” of riding around in flashy cars, and showing off his wealth and trying to live a good life. According to, www.vox.com, white people in America also went into what was called ‘’ where they were trying to find whoever they could to beat Johnson. However, they couldn’t, and Johnson was on top of the world. On

October 16th, 1909, a boxer named fought Johnson in Colma, , where

Johnson beat him in 12 rounds. Johnson’s punch to knock Ketchel out was so powerful that it made him lose five teeth. White people across America were losing hope in trying to find someone to beat Johnson.

Fight of the Century

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via, abhmuseum.org

The boxing community was becoming frustrated and were starting to beg Jim Jefferies to come out of his six year retirement to fight Johnson. At first he refused, but promoters, such as

Tex Rickard, wanted this fight to happen, and so did the majority of America. It was dubbed as

‘The Fight of the Century’ and Jefferies agreed to fight Johnson. Jefferies even said in the days leading up to the prizefighting match, ”I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that a white man is king of them all.” (Washington, 2016). When Jefferies said this, it just added more excitement to the match. So on July 4th, 1910, in Reno, Nevada, 18,000 people showed up to the fight. Ringside seats were sold for $50, and were getting resold for as much as $125. Some people even paid $5 to stand outside the 45-round scheduled fight. Right before the fight,

Jefferies didn’t even shake Johnson’s hand, trying to make a defiant gesture. During the fight

Jefferies didn't look the same as he did 6 years prior, his reflexes were slower and he was out of

7 shape. Johnson had beaten Jefferies in 15 rounds after the opposing corner of the ring threw in the towel(History.com). Johnson had won $117,000 from that fight alone. Former boxer, John

L. Sullivan gave praise to Johnson after the match by saying, “he is one of the craftiest, cunningest boxers that ever stepped in the ring.” (Copland, 2018). Jefferies also, surprisingly expressed admiration for him by saying, “I never could have whipped Johnson at my best. I couldn’t have hit him. No, I couldn’t have reached him in 1,000 years.” (Flatter, Johnson

Boxed). Immediately after the fight, riots had sparked across the country. Twenty-six, African

American men and women were killed in riots in states, such as California, Washington, West

Virginia, and Georgia. There was a mob of 1,000 people in West Virginia, 200 in , however, the rest weren’t well documented. Although it was officially reported, it was stated that there was one black man from Georgia who was hung. Johnson didn’t have as many headline fights after ‘The Fight of the Century’.

Violating the

In 1913 Johnson had violated the Civil War Era Law, The Mann Act, which was, according to PBS, “An Act to further regulate interstate commerce and forreign commerce by prohibiting the transportation therein immoral purposes of women and girls, and for other purposes.” the law was trying to combat sex trafficking, which worked, but also it was an easy target to prosecute . But what Johnson did was entirely legal, being that he was just travelling with his girlfriend at the time, Lucille Cameron. Authorities, however, thought differently and he was sentenced by an all white jury, to one year and one day in jail with a $1,000 fine. Johnson tried to steer clear of this charge at all costs by leaving the country.

8 He escaped to, and boxed in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South America. In 1915, Johnson fought in , Cuba. Johnson was fighting strong for the first 20 rounds, until he started getting fatigued, and eventually got knocked out in the 26th round. Rumors started flying around after the fight that Johnson intentionally lost, but Johnson denied those claims.

Five years later, in 1920, Johnson had turned himself in at the America-Mexico border for previously violating the Mann Act. Going to prison to serve ten months of jail time, in

Leavenworth, Kansas, before being released (Bogage, 2018).

Life After Prison & Later Years

Once Johnson got out of prison, his stature wasn’t as big as it previously was. Although he was still participating in boxing matches none of them were getting as noticed as they were erstwhile. But the prizefighter still had success outside of the ring. At this point, he operated a

Chicago Nightclub, had his own Jazz band, wrote two autobiographies, he knew how to play violin, and spoke several different languages. He also still did exhibition boxing matches, against up and coming boxers. He also got banned from the state of Kansas in 1931 because of boxing in an unregulated match against boxer, Brad Simmons. On June 10th, 1946 Johnson was in Reiligh, , where he was denied service at a restaurant due to his skin color.

Johnson, noticeably frustrated, got into his car and drove off. This led to him getting into a fatal car accident. Johnson was buried next to his first wife, Etta Durya, in , Illinois.

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After His Death

After his death, Johnson’s name has popped up multiple times throughout the media and throughout boxing. Just eight years after his death, he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of

Fame. Muhammed Ali has said Johnson was an inspiration to him, as have many other boxers.

Johnson was portrayed by in the 1970 film, The Great White Hope. He was ​ ​ also the subject of a 2004 documentary of his life called Unforgivable Blackness, directed by ​ ​ . Also since 2004, Senator John McCain and Representative Peter King have been pushing a posthumous pardon to the president. During ’s presidency, Senators

Harry Reid and Cory Booker have tried convincing him to pardon Johnson, but it was denied.

That changed when President Trump received a call from actor and a relative of Johnson, Linda Haywood, about a posthumous pardon. In May of 2018, Actor Sylvester

Stallone, Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder, Johnson’s relative Linda Haywood, among others were in the Oval Office when the pardon was granted.

Conclusion

The legendary basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once said, “I’ve always tried to stay out of the fray and not be an object of controversy” (Markazi, 2011), ‘The Galveston Giant’ on the other hand was quite the contrary. Whether it be hate that spread from the media, or blatant racism, Johnson made history. He was able to break the color barrier in the height of the

Jim Crow era by becoming the first African American Heavyweight champion. Because of him breaking the color barrier, he paved the way for boxers such as Muhhamed Ali, ‘Smokin’ Joe

10 Frazier, George Foreman, , Floyd Mayweather, among many others were able to be professionals, and compete in the sport they love. There is no doubt that Jack Johnson should be considered one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time and it is apparent that his hard work and perseverance helped contribute to breaking the color barrier for professional athletes.

Annotated Bibliography ​

Primary Sources

YouTube, YouTube, www..com/watch?v=oUqhJzgSj4M. ​ This video shows his boxing highlights throughout his boxing prime. I used bits and pieces from this video throughout this essay.

YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwG001Y3eXk ​ This was from a documentary made from the early when it showed the leadup to

‘The Fight of the Century’ and different parts of their careers. I thought it was interesting and cool.

Secondary Sources

Andone, Dakin. “Who Was Jack Johnson, the Boxer Who Trump Pardoned?” CNN, Cable News ​ ​

11 Network, 24 May 2018,

www.cnn.com/2018/04/22/politics/jack-johnson-who-is/index.html

This shares the news of when Johnson was posthumously pardon, it also goes over who was all there and the process of the pardon. Written by Dakin Andone in May 2018.

Andrews, Malika. “A Relative Wages Jack Johnson's Biggest Fight: To Clear His Name.” The ​ New York Times, The New York Times, 8 May 2018, ​ www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/sports/jack-johnson-pardon.html

This goes in depth into the time of when Johnson got his posthumous pardon. It was written in 2018 by Malika Andrews.

Bogage, Jacob. “Jack Johnson, Boxer Jailed under Jim Crow, Is Being Considered by Trump for

Pardon.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 21 Apr. 2018, ​ ​ www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/04/21/who-is-jack-johnson-the-boxe

r-trump-is-considering-for-posthumous-pardon/.

This recalls when Johnson violated The Mann Act, and the early 2000s when others tried getting the pardon. Written by Jacob Bogage in April, 2018.

Cochrane, Peter. “ Belting: The Fight That Stirred the Racial Convictions of the

Nation.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Dec. 2018, ​ ​ www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/26/boxing-day-belting-the-fight-that-stirred-the-ra

cial-convictions-of-the-nation.

The Guardian made a really detailed article which was a really good source that I had found.

The article talked about his career overview and him violating The Mann Act and the events after.

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Colvin, Jill. “'It's about Time': Trump Pardons Late Boxer Jack Johnson.” AP NEWS, Associated ​ ​ Press, 25 May 2018,

apnews.com/602a43d77fcc4b8a81ae26589845a114/'It's-about-time':-Trump-pardons-late

-boxer-Jack-Johnson.

This article talks about President Trump giving the presidential pardon to Johnson. Written in

May, 2018, by writer Jill Colvin of

Dahlberg, Tim. “Column: Jack Johnson's Biggest Crime Was Being Black.” AP NEWS, ​ ​ Associated Press, 25 May 2018,

apnews.com/4dbf848bb0624e51a67b3194c4a6c69c/Column:-Jack-Johnson's-biggest-cri

me-was-being-black.

The articles title was intriguing because it leaves you curious and wants you to read the article. It was good and resourceful.

“Descendant of Boxing Legend Jack Johnson Hopes for Pardon, Maybe from Trump.” Los ​ Angeles Times, Times, 11 Feb. 2018, ​ www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-jack-johnson-pardon-20180210-story.html.

The L.A. Times had also covered the pardon when it was in consideration. However it also gave out information I had previously missed in earlier articles.

Domonoske, Camila. “Legendary Boxer Jack Johnson Gets Pardon, 105 Years After Baseless

Conviction.” NPR, NPR, 24 May 2018, ​ ​ www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/24/614114966/legendary-boxer-jack-johnson

-gets-pardon-105-years-after-baseless-conviction.

13 This has also given insights on ‘The Galveston Giant’ and covered the posthumous pardon.

Written by Camila Domonoske in May, 2018.

Eligon, John, and Brandon K. Thorp. “Missed in Coverage of Jack Johnson, the Racism Around

Him.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 May 2018, ​ ​ www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-racism.html.

I had used this source a lot and it was really insightful to see what people’s thoughts were

about people of color back then. This article was really well written and it was very resourceful.

ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014275.html. ​ This also was very useful to me. It gave me information about his career as a prizefighter that

I never knew before. Although I didn’t find out who wrote the article it was a reliable source

which was very helpful.

Gardner, Steve. “Who Was Jack Johnson? Five Facts about the Legendary Boxer.” USA Today, ​ ​ Gannett Satellite Information Network, 24 May 2018,

www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2018/05/24/jack-johnson-boxer-pardon-facts/641

737002/.

I used this when I first started and it gave me a basic overlook of who Johnson was. Although

it

14 didn’t have much information, it was a good source.

“Jack Johnson (Boxer).” Jack Johnson (Boxer) - New World Encyclopedia, ​ ​ www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jack_Johnson_(boxer).

I liked using this source because it covered his whole life which I used bits and pieces of.

However it could’ve gone into more depth, however it was well written.

“Jack Johnson Wins Heavyweight Title.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb. 2010, ​ ​ www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jack-johnson-wins-heavyweight-title.

History.com is always a good source to use, being that it always gives good information. In

my case it went over when Johnson won his first heavyweight title, breaking the color barrier.

Jack Johnson, www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/oldtimer/johnsonjack.html. ​ This had given a basic overview of his career and a brief history of his life. Johnson was also inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Jesse Washington. “Jack Johnson, Still Unforgivable?” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 29 ​ ​ Dec. 2016,

theundefeated.com/features/will-obama-pardon-heavyweight-boxing-champ-jack-johnso

n/.

The Undefeated always does good with their articles, this one is right there with them. This article had shown the people who had previously attempted to get the pardon, while also sharing information about Johnson.

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“LoDico, John.” .", Encyclopedia.com, 31 Jan. 2020, ​ ​ www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/jack-johnson.

This article was just an overview of his life and career. It had some good information I had used.

“Mann Act Full Text.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/mann-act-full-text/.

This text had cited the Mann Act that was in place at the time of when Jack Johnson had violated it. I used this for context and I quoted it in my essay.

Muller, Sarah. “Fighting for the Legacy of Boxing Champ Jack Johnson.” MSNBC, ​ ​ NBCUniversal News Group, 2 Oct. 2013,

www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/fighting-the-legacy-boxing-champ-jack.

This had just covered his past. And it was also a good source I had used.

Rozen, Wayne. “Great White Hope: Not Great, No Hope.” The New York Times, The New York ​ ​ Times, 3 July 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/sports/othersports/04boxing.html. ​ This had gone into detail about the leadup to the ‘Fight of the Century’. It was very detailed, and I had used it for my paragraph of ‘The Fight of the Century’.

Siefert, Rosie. “Boxing Legend Jack Johnson.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 23 May ​ ​ 2018,

www.chicagotribune.com/visuals/vintage/ct-jack-johnson-boxing-legend-photos-201805

16 23-photogallery.html.

This was a good source because of its pictures and showing me the way he lived his life.

Using this source was the first time I had seen a picture of Johnson.

Sports IllustratedMarkazi, and Sports IllustratedMarkazi. “Kareem Doesn't Feel 'Appreciated'

by Lakers.” ESPN.com, 19 May 2011,

www.espn.com.au/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6566583.

I had used this source because of its Kareem Abdul-Jabbar quote. I had used the quote

because

Johnson was controversial (at the time).

“Sports.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 13 Nov. 2018 ​ ​ ,nmaahc.si.edu/sports.

I used this in trying to get a better understanding of the barriers that Johnson had broken when

I had first started. This was the source I had used to find this topic.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Jack Johnson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, ​ ​ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Jan. 2020,

www.britannica.com/biography/Jack-Johnson.

Encyclopædia Britannica was one of the first sources I had used and it had given me some

17 basic information about him, so I added those to my notes and I later made it more thorough. The

source also is a very reliable source.

“The War on Jack Johnson: Boxing's First Black Heavyweight Champion Versus the World.”

Fightland, ​ fightland.vice.com/blog/the-war-on-jack-johnson-boxings-first-black-heavyweight-cham

pion-versus-the-world.

Vice also is really good at making articles and this one was one of my favorites to use. It was just so elaborate and detailed, and I learned a lot from this one.

Ty. “Jack Johnson: The Man and The Myth.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 2 Oct. 2017, ​ ​ bleacherreport.com/articles/134592-jack-johnson-the-man-the-myth.

This article was more about his career, I didn’t get much out of it. Although it did shed light

on some of his other fights that I added into my paper.

Yglesias, Matthew. “'s Posthumous Pardon of Boxing Champion Jack Johnson,

Explained.” Vox, Vox, 24 May 2018, ​ ​ www.vox.com/2018/5/24/17390112/jack-johnson-pardon.

Vox is one of my favorite sources to use, just in general. Their research on anything they

make

18 has so much depth and detail that they let you know so much that you have never known before.

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