Hidden Figures: Wilma Rudolph #BlackHERstoryMonth 1/28 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Wilma Rudolph #BlackHERstoryMonth 1/28

Wilma Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) was an American sprinter from Clarksville, Tennessee, who became a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph was acclaimed the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and became the first American woman, to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Due to the worldwide television coverage of the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rudolph became a role model for black and female athletes and her Olympic successes helped elevate women's track and field in the United States. Rudolph suffered from several early childhood illnesses, including pneumonia and scarlet fever, and contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the polio virus) at the age of five. She recovered from polio, but lost strength in her left leg and foot. Physically disabled for much of her early life, Rudolph wore a leg brace until she was twelve years old. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympiad and also the first American woman to win a gold medal in the 100-meter race since the 1936 Summer Olympics. Rudolph won another gold medal in the finals of the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.0 seconds, after setting a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds in the opening heat. After these wins she was hailed throughout the world as "the fastest woman in history." Rudolph retired from track competition at the age of twenty-two. After retiring from competition, Rudolph continued her education at Tennessee State and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1963. In May 1963, Rudolph participated in a civil rights protest in her hometown of Clarksville in an effort to desegregate one of the city's restaurants. Within a short time the mayor announced that the city's public facilities, including its restaurants, would become fully integrated. In addition to teaching Rudolph worked for nonprofit organizations and government-sponsored projects that supported athletic development among American children. In Boston, Massachusetts, she became involved in the federal Job Corps program, and in 1967 served as a track specialist for Operation Champion. In 1981 Rudolph established and led the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that trains youth athletes. In 1987 Rudolph joined DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as director of its women's track program and served as a consultant on minority affairs to the university's president. In July 1994, Rudolph was diagnosed with brain and throat cancer. She died on November 12, 1994, at the age of fifty-four, at her home in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. #WilmaRudolph #HiddenFigures #BlackHERstoryMonth #BHM ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'An Undefeated History - The life and times of Wilma Rudolph:' http://theundefeated.com/videos/the-life-and-times-of-wilma-rudolph/ https://www.olympic.org/wilma-rudolph https://www.biography.com/people/wilma-rudolph-9466552 'Rudolph ran and world went wild:' https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016444.html 'REMARKABLE RUDOLPH DEFIES ODDS WITH SPRINT TREBLE:' https://www.olympic.org/news/remarkable-rudolph-defies-odds-with-sprint-treble Wilma Rudolph: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-rudolph Wilma Rudolph - A Story of Determination: http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/wilmarudolph.htm Wilma Rudolph (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Rudolph