Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football by Derrick E. White

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-187
Author(s):  
Robert D. McDermand
Keyword(s):  
College Football ◽  
Black College ◽  
History Of

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Derrick E. White
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
College Football ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Black College ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Colleges And Universities ◽  
Dominant Black

This book tells the history of college football at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through the lens of Alonzo “Jake” Gaither’s playing and coaching career. After World War II, Gaither, as a coach, transformed Florida A&M University (FAMU) into the most dominant Black college football program over the next three decades. FAMU’s winning program was buttressed by the development of sporting congregations, a network of athletes, administrators, coaches, sportswriters, and fans that emerged in the first half of the 20th century. Finally, the growth of Black college football reflected a broader tension in African American higher education between integration and self-determination.

Baylor University’s Football Stadia: Life Before McLane Stadium

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Chad Seifried ◽  
Tiffany E. Demiris ◽  
Jeffrey Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Factors ◽  
College Football ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Commercial Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Prestige

The present study offers a descriptive history of the football grounds at Baylor from 1894 to 2014. The current review identifies important individuals and notable events that impacted the football facilities at Baylor. Moreover, the contextual factors influencing each period of change were recognized, and it was determined if Baylor’s facilities followed the pattern of other regional peers. In the case of Baylor, football ultimately created social anchors for the institution and Waco because the increasing popularity and commercial interest in college football produced spectacles capable of providing a unique campus spirit. Next, the spectacle of football and spirit both established and improved alumni relationships and corresponded with interest in elevating the prestige of the university and city to attract students, visitors, and businesses to operate in the area. Finally, the construction of various Baylor football playing grounds produced significant media attention capable of boosting enrollments and recognition that Baylor was a major university.

Resources for Historical Background

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannette Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Women Scientists ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Black College ◽  
Background Information ◽  
History Of ◽  
Worth Reading ◽  
Background History

Many historians have written about the history of African Americans in science, but most of the articles focus only on the men and very little is written about the women. It would take additional research to find information pertaining only to the women. However, since both men and women lived through the same era, much of what affected the men also affected the women. The background information about black women chemists could probably fit into another book or at least a paper, but that was not within the scope of this book. Dr. Wini Warren, author of Black Women Scientists in the United States, did some extensive research on the background history of black women in science, which she planned to put into a future book; due to health problems it was never written. However, the Introduction to Dr. Warren’s book is well worth reading for some of the background history of the women. The endnotes in that chapter provide an extensive bibliography about the history of blacks in science. In addition, Dr. Warren includes an extensive discussion about the background history of black women scientists in the introduction of her thesis, “Hearts and Minds: Black Women Scientists in the United States 1900–1960.” Sisters in Science by Diann Jordan features author interviews of black women scientists, some of whom are chemists. The Introduction of her book, discusses the background history. Dr. Jordan also includes a history of black colleges in the section “The Role of the Black College in Educating African American Scientists.” Since many of the women in this book had their first college education in a black college, it is worth reading. Information about several of the African American women chemists in this book can be found in Contributions of Black Women to America, Volume 2. The Introduction and Chapter 1 in the “Science” section give some background information about the history of women in science.

Performing Visibility: Freaknic and the Spatial Politics of Sexuality, Race, and Class in Atlanta

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista A. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Black College ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Spring Break ◽  
History Of

During the late 1990s, participants in Freaknic, the annual black college spring break gathering, were greeted by the Atlanta police in riot gear. Defying the police, women gave impromptu performances, sometimes stripping for participants' cameras. Thompson shows how these performances were a response not only to the city's treatment of Freaknic but also to Atlanta's long history of using force to control race, gender, and class.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick E. White
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
College Football ◽  
Black College ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Central Character ◽  
Predominately White Institutions ◽  
Predominately White ◽  
Football Programs

Black college football began during the nadir of African American life after the Civil War. The first game occurred in 1892, a little less than four years before the Supreme Court ruled segregation legal in Plessy v. Ferguson. In spite of Jim Crow segregation, Black colleges produced some of the best football programs in the country. They mentored young men who became teachers, preachers, lawyers, and doctors--not to mention many other professions--and transformed Black communities. But when higher education was integrated, the programs faced existential challenges as predominately white institutions steadily set about recruiting their student athletes and hiring their coaches. Blood, Sweat, and Tears explores the legacy of Black college football, with Florida A&M’s Jake Gaither as its central character, one of the most successful coaches in its history. A paradoxical figure, Gaither led one of the most respected Black college football programs, yet many questioned his loyalties during the height of the civil rights movement. Among the first broad-based histories of Black college athletics, Derrick E. White’s sweeping story complicates the heroic narrative of integration and grapples with the complexities and contradictions of one of the most important sources of Black pride in the twentieth century.

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