SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The 2024 Olympics open in Paris next week. Many athletes who happen to be Black will compete from around the world, including Americans - Simone Biles and Fred Richard in gymnastics, Sophia Smith in women's soccer, Sha'Carri Richardson in sprinting. 2024 Paris Olympics is also a good time to remember the story and athletic feats of DeHart Hubbard cecause a century ago, at the 1924 games, also in Paris, he became the first Black athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Maahra Hill is the great-granddaughter of DeHart Hubbard, and she joins us now from Southern California. Thanks so much for being with us.
MAAHRA HILL: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
SIMON: Tell us about your great-grandfather at the '24 Olympics. He was in the long jump, right?
HILL: That's right. He was in the long jump. He's the consummate athlete. He's a multi-sport athlete. But in this instance, a hundred years ago, in 1924, his coach urged him to choose an event. And because he had been so consistent in the long jump - always around 25 feet - he was the U.S.'s best hope to win gold. So they asked that he focus on that particular event. And that's what he did.
He wrote a near-prescient letter that described his goals - on the way to the Olympics, as they were taking the train to board the boat to Paris - that said that he aimed to be the first colored Olympic champion. And it is our family's greatest pride that his words came true.
SIMON: Did he talk about what it was like to be there at the Olympics?
HILL: He was always so optimistic and confident. The time that he did this in was not favorable, I think, for people of color at all. On the trip over, he was in the bow of the boat, at the very bottom. And then on top of him, there were Latinos, and then the Caucasians were on top of them. But he made no complaints about it. He just made friends with everyone. He found himself in every area of the boat. He slept where he was told to sleep. He was very humble, very modest. He didn't speak to us about medals or anything. It's something that we found out much later.
SIMON: Did he ever talk about what it was like to come back to the U.S. and what kind of society welcomed him back?
HILL: The reception that he received was - he did get a parade, but he just didn't receive the same fanfare. He didn't receive the same benefits that some of the other athletes that came back from abroad - he wasn't held on high in the same way. There are articles that even refer to him as the Dusty Demon.
SIMON: The Dusty Demon?
HILL: Yeah. So there was a particular attitude towards people of color, clearly, at that time. He definitely got a lot further, I think, because he was in the North - in Cincinnati, as opposed to Mississippi.
SIMON: I gather that he eventually became the supervisor, well, for a department of the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission, which had a title we wouldn't use anymore, didn't it?
HILL: Yes. And he was actually, I think, in that position working to make housing available to people of color. He facilitated the 30-year mortgage because it was something that was more affordable. He was offered that position on a federal level but didn't want to do the traveling because, as he wrote in the letter, he was expecting a daughter. So after the Olympics, he came directly home - because it was a summer Olympics - to Cincinnati, to his wife and child.
SIMON: And he founded a Negro League baseball team, didn't he?
HILL: That's right. He did. It was the Cincinnati Tigers. And there's an affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds. They let them use their team uniforms, and also, they played on the same field that the Reds played on.
SIMON: Crosley Field, yes.
HILL: Yeah. He founded them in 1934. In '37, they were in the Major Leagues for a year.
SIMON: On this centennial of your great-grandfather's historic win of a gold medal, what is important to cherish about his legacy, do you think?
HILL: I think that - so much. It's there's - who he was as a human being, first and foremost. There was a certain deep sense of belief in himself, his work ethic, his integrity. He was just so distinguished and funny and humorous, and, you know, he would make jokes. And, you know, he couldn't sleep in. My grandmother would say he never could sleep in. He would either, you know, like, splash a little water on him or turn the music up really loud. He was just up-and-at-him kind of guy. And he led by example.
SIMON: Maahra Hill is the great-granddaughter DeHart Hubbard, first Black Olympic champion. Thank you so much for speaking to us.
HILL: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHILLY GONZALES' "NERO'S NOCTURNE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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