Jim Thorpe

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Jim Thorpe

• Athlete of the Century

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Jim Thorpe

• Born May 28, 1887
• Oklahoma Indian Territory
• Died March 28, 1953
• Tribe
• Sac and Fox

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Name

• James Francis Thorpe
• Native name
• Wa-Tho-Huck
• Bright Path

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Education

• 1904 Father sent him to Carlisle Indian School
  in Pennsylvania
• White teachers hoped to civilize the Indians
• Students werent allowed to speak their native
  tongue or use their native names

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Education, cont.

• Students left their traditional lifestyles at the
  gates
• They were forced to cut their long hair.

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Carlisle School Athletics

• Coach Glen Scobie Pop Warner
• High Jump
• Jumped 59 first attempt

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Track and Field Pictures
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Athletics, cont.

• Football
• Halfback
• Carlisle Army game
• Halfback battle between Jim Thorpe and Dwight
  Eisenhower
• National Champions

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Olympics

• 1912 Stockholm
• Medals in decathlon and pentathlon
• King Gustave V of Sweden called Thorpe the
  greatest athlete in the world.

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Controversy

• Played baseball in the tobacco league
• Earned 15 a week
• Olympic athletes were forbidden from receiving
  money for sports activities
• Olympic Committee asked for him to return his
  medals.

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Grace

• 1982 - Thorpes daughter Grace won her battle to
  have Thorpes medals returned.

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Marriages

• 1st Wife Iva, 1913
• Children Jim, Jr., Gail, Charlotte, and Grace
• 2nd Wife Freeda, 1925
• Children Carl Philip, William, Richard and John
  (Jack)
• 3rd Wife Patricia, 1945

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Professional Sports

• Major League Baseball
• New York Giants
• Cincinnati Reds
• Boston Braves

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Baseball Pictures

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Professional Sports

• Football
• Canton Bulldogs
• Cleveland Indians
• Oorang Indians
• Rock Island Independents
• New York Giants
• St. Petersburg
• Portsmouth
• Chicago Cardinals

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Football Picture
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Awards

• All-American Halfback
• Olympic Decathlon and Pentathlon
• King Gustave Worlds Greatest Athlete
• College Football Hall of Fame
• N.F.L.s Most Valuable Player

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Awards

• Professional Football Hall of Fame
• Film The All American
• Sports Magazine Greatest American Football
  Player in History
• Wide World of Sports Greatest Athlete of the
  Century
• Musical Warrior An American Tragedy
• Featured on Wheaties Cereal box