NAME: Wilma
Glodean Rudolph
BIRTHDATE: June
23, 1940
BIRTHPLACE:
Clarksville, Tennessee
EDUCATION: At
first, Wilma was tutored at home by her family because she was crippled. She
first began school at the age of seven. In 1947, the schools of the Southern
states were segregated -- black students and white students had to attend
separate schools. Even though blacks had to pay the same taxes as whites, the
schools for black students were usually poorly funded, so they were less likely
to have adequate books, teachers, classrooms, or equipment.
In junior high,
Wilma followed her older sister Yolanda's example and joined the basketball
team. The coach, Clinton Gray, didn't put her in a single game for three years.
Finally, in her sophomore year, she became the starting guard. During the state
basketball tournament, she was spotted by Ed Temple, the coach for the famous
Tigerbells, the women's track team at Tennessee State University. Because Burt
High School didn't have the funding for a track team, coach Temple invited Wilma
to Tennessee State for a summer sports camp.
After
graduating from high school, Wilma received a full scholarship to Tennessee
State. Because of all the celebrity she received from her track career, she took
a year off from her studies to make appearances and compete in international
track events. She returned and received a Bachelor's degree in education,
graduating in 1963.
FAMILY
BACKGROUND: Wilma Rudolph was born into a large family -- she was the 20th of 22
children! Her parents, Ed and Blanche Rudolph, were honest, hardworking people,
but were very poor. Mr. Rudolph worked as a railroad porter and handyman. Mrs.
Rudolph did cooking, laundry and housecleaning for wealthy white families.
In 1940
millions of Americans were poor -- our of work and homeless because of the Great
Depression. The Rudolphs managed to make ends meet by doing things like making
the girls' dresses out of flour sacks.
Wilma was born
prematurely and weighed only 4.5 pounds. Again, because of racial segregation,
she and her mother were not permitted to be cared for at the local hospital. It
was for whites only. There was only one black doctor in Clarksville, and the
Rudolph's budget was tight, so Wilma's mother spent the next several years nursing Wilma through one illness after another: measles, mumps, scarlet fever,
chicken pox and double pneumonia. But, she had to be taken to the doctor when it
was discovered that her left leg and foot were becoming weak and deformed. She
was told she had polio, a crippling disease that had no cure. The doctor told
Mrs. Rudolph that Wilma would never walk. But Mrs. Rudolph would not give up on
Wilma. She found out that she could be treated at Meharry Hospital, the black
medical college of Fisk University in Nashville. Even though it was 50 miles
away, Wilma's mother took her there twice a week for two years, until she was
able to walk with the aid of a metal leg brace. Then the doctors taught Mrs.
Rudolph how to do the physical therapy exercises at home. All of her brothers
and sisters helped too, and they did everything to encourage her to be strong
and work hard at getting well. Finally, by age 12, she could walk normally,
without the crutches, brace, or corrective shoes. It was then that she decided
to become an athlete.
In 1963, Wilma
married her high school sweetheart, Robert Eldridge, with whom she had four
children: Yolanda (1958), Djuanna (1964), Robert Jr. (1965), and Xurry (1971).
They later divorced.
DESCRIPTION OF
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Wilma Rudolph's life is a story of achieving against the odds.
Her first accomplishments were to stay alive and get well!
In high school,
she became a basketball star first, who set state records for scoring and led her team to a state championship. Then she became a track star, going to her
first Olympic Games in 1956 at the age of 16. She won a bronze medal in the 4x4
relay.
On September
7th, 1960, in Rome, Wilma became the first American woman to win 3 gold medals
in the Olympics. She won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and ran the
anchor on the 400-meter relay team.
This
achievement led her to become one of the most celebrated female athletes of all
time. In addition, her celebrity caused gender barriers to be broken in
previously all-male track and field events.
AWARDS
- United Press
Athlete of the Year 1960
- Associated
Press Woman Athlete of the Year 1960
- James E.
Sullivan Award for Good Sportsmanship 1961 *
- The Babe
Zaharias Award 1962
- European
Sportswriters' Sportsman of the Year *
- Christopher
Columbus Award for Most Outstanding International Sports Personality 1960*
- The Penn
Relays 1961 *
- New York
Athletic Club Track Meet *
- The Millrose
Games *
- Black Sports
Hall of Fame 1980
- U.S. Olympic
Hall of Fame 1983
- Vitalis Cup
for Sports Excellence 1983
- Women's
Sports Foundation Award 1984
* indicates first
woman to receive the award/invitation
There were
other honors as well. In 1963 she was selected to represent the U. S. State
Department as a Goodwill Ambassador at the Games of Friendship in Dakar,
Senegal. Later that year she was invited by Dr. Billy Graham to join the Baptist
Christian Athletes in Japan.
There was one
"first" accomplishment that was more special than any of the others,
however. For Wilma, the fact that she insisted that her homecoming parade in
Clarksville, Tennessee be open to everyone and not a segregated event as was the
usual custom. Her victory parade was the first racially integrated event ever
held in the town. And that night, the banquet the townspeople held in her honor,
was the first time in Clarksville's history that blacks and whites had ever
gathered together for the same event. She went on to participate in protests in
the city until the segregation laws were struck down.
After retiring
from track competition, Wilma returned to Clarksville to live. She taught at her
old school, Cobb Elementary, and was the track coach at her alma mater, Burt
High School. She replaced her old coach, Clinton Gray, who, tragically, had been
killed in an auto accident. But small town life proved to be too conservative
after all her worldly experiences. She moved on to coaching positions, first in Maine, and then, Indiana. She was invited to be the guest speaker at dozens of
schools and universities. She also went into broadcasting and became a sports
commentator on national television and the co-host of a network radio show.
In 1967
Vice-President Hubert Humphrey invited Wilma to participate in "Operation
Champ," an athletic outreach program for underprivileged youth in the
ghettoes of 16 major cities. She started her own non-profit organization, The
Wilma Rudolph Foundation, to continue this kind of work. The foundation provided
free coaching in a variety of sports, and academic assistance and support as
well.
In 1977 she
wrote her autobiography, simply titled, "Wilma." It was adapted as a
television movie; Wilma worked on it as a consultant.
In 1997,
Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed June 23 as Wilma Rudolph Day in Tennessee.
DATE OF DEATH:
Saturday, November 12, 1994, at the age of 54.
PLACE OF DEATH:
Wilma died in her home in Nashville, Tennessee. She had been in and out of
hospitals for several months after brain cancer was diagnosed. Leroy Walker,
president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said, "All of us recognize that
this is obviously a tremendous loss. Wilma was still very much involved with a
number of Olympic programs. It's a tragic loss. She was struck with an illness
that, unfortunately, we can't do very much about."