TBT: This past Saturday while I was in Milwaukee, Natureman was enjoying the 4th Annual Juneteenth Citywide Celebration with the African American Living History Bus Tour. I was so bummed to miss it but it was so successful there's good news as there will be a second tour held in the future...
As I spoke about this event to my couchsurfing Milwaukee host Carol, my traveling partner, Lynn, mentioned one of the tour's stops would be at La Crosse's claim to fame, the African American Mr. George Coleman Poage's home, a two times Olympian bronze medalist. Carol quickly added that a relative in her family had also competed in the Olympics. I asked her when as I pulled up my blog posting from 2016 re: the dedication of a park a 112 years late in recognition of Mr. Poage's accomplishments. Carol replied that it must have been early 1900's and would you believe after doing the math (2016 being 2 yrs ago and the title 112 +2 = 114 subtracted from 2018), and a quick Wikipedia search for Hahn, both men had competed together in the 1904 games in St. Louis? Both were medalists too.
Carol's relative Charles Archibald "Archie" Hahn, a German American, had attended U of Michigan and was the first man to win both the Olympic 100m and
200m while George Poage held the honors of being the first African American to win an Olympic medal. (Archie also won the 60 m in 1904 and in 1906 won one more gold.)What are the chances to discover this coincidence during a first conversation. Talk about Throw Back Thursdays!
Credit to Wikipedia for all photos posted in this entry including this one of the 1904 USA Track and Field Olympian competitors.
Below also is an except from the Tour's booklet and also a link to the Poage Park dedication...
* If you'd like to read a bit more about George Poage, here's that blog link. A 112 YEARS LATE
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