John Baxter Taylor Jr. (November 3, 1882,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

– December 2, 1908,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) was an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, notable as the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to win an

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Biography

Dr. Taylor was born in Washington D.C. to former slaves. The family settled in

, where he attended public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1902. He spent a year at Brown Preparatory School, also in Philadelphia, where he was the fastest high school quarter-miler in the country. As a freshman at the

Wharton School of Finance The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

(Class of 1907) at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, he was the

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level coll ...

(Inter-Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) champion in the quarter mile. He bested his personal time in 1907, and again was the ICAAAA quarter mile champion. He transferred to and graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, commonly referred to as Penn Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Pennsylvania. Penn Vet is one of only two Ivy League veterinary schools in the United States. Establish ...

(Class of 1908), and was a member of

Sigma Pi Phi Sigma Pi Phi (), also known as The Boulé, is an African American professional fraternity. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1904, it is the oldest Greek lettered fraternity for African Americans. The fraternity does not have collegiate ...

, the first black fraternity

He was recruited by the

Irish American Athletic Club The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. Early years Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", ...

in New York, and was its most prominent African American member.

1908 Olympics

Taylor was a member of the gold medal-winning men's medley relay team at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

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. He ran the third leg, performing the 400 meters. He followed William Hamilton and Nate Cartmell (fellow athletes from the University of Pennsylvania) and was followed by

Mel Sheppard Melvin Whinfield "Peerless Mel" Sheppard (September 5, 1883 – January 4, 1942) was an American athlete, member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of four gold medals and one silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1 ...

(a fellow athlete from Brown Preparatory School). In both the first round and the final, Taylor received a lead from Cartmell and passed one on to Sheppard. The team won both races, with times of 3:27.2 and 3:29.4. Taylor was the first African American to win an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. His split for the final was 49.8 seconds. He advanced to the finals in the men's 400 metres race at the

, winning his preliminary heat with a time of 50.8 seconds and his semifinal with 49.8 seconds. In the first running of the race, Taylor came in last place out of the four runners. However, teammate

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

was disqualified after being accused of obstructing

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

runner

Wyndham Halswelle Wyndham Halswelle (30 May 1882 – 31 March 1915) was a British Sport of athletics, athlete. He won the controversial Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres, 400 m race at the 1908 Summer Olympics, becoming the only athlete ...

and the race was ordered to be repeated without Carpenter. In protest at Carpenter's disqualification, Taylor and fellow American William Robbins refused to compete in the second final.

ran the second final alone, with a time of 50 seconds, and was awarded the gold medal in the only

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

in Olympic history. Less than five months after returning from the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in London, Taylor died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

on 2 December 1908 at the age of 26. He is interred at Eden Cemetery in

Collingdale, Pennsylvania Collingdale is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,908 at the 2020 census. Local governance The Borough of Collingdale follows a council-manager form of governance. The Borough Council is composed ...

. In his obituary, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called him "the world's greatest negro runner." In a letter to Taylor's parents, Harry Porter, fellow

member and acting President of the 1908

U.S. Olympic Team The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United ...

wrote:

It is far more as the man (than the athlete) that John Taylor made his mark. Quite unostentatious, genial, (and) kindly, the fleet-footed, far-famed athlete was beloved wherever known...As a beacon of his race, his example of achievement in athletics, scholarship and manhood will never wane, if indeed it is not destined to form with that of
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...
.

File:Track (men's), 1907 ICAA point winners UPenn.jpg, 1907 University of Pennsylvania track team, with their ICAAAA trophy. File:Cartmell, Taylor, Sheppard, Hamilton 1908.jpg, At the 1908 Olympic games. File:John Baxter Taylor Death Certificate.png, John Baxter Taylor's death certificate.

Notes

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References

External links

Biography at the University of Pennsylvania
*
Profiles from the Ivy League's Black History

* ttp://www.wingedfist.org/ Winged Fist Organization
John Baxter Taylor Jr. - 1st African-American Olympic Gold Medalist
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John Baxter 1882 births 1908 deaths Track and field athletes from Washington, D.C. Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Penn Quakers men's track and field athletes American male sprinters African-American track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Burials at Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) Deaths from typhoid fever in the United States Infectious disease deaths in Pennsylvania American veterinarians Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field 20th-century African-American sportsmen