May 28: Birthday of Jim Thorpe (1888)
Prayer Idea
Pray for the Potawatomi and the Sac and Fox (Meskwaki) people.
History Note
Jim Thorpe was born on May 28, 1888, in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), along with his twin brother Charlie. Jim and Charlie had one French Canadian grandfather and one Irish grandfather. They had one grandmother from the Potawatomi people and one grandmother from the Sac and Fox people. Jim’s indigenous name was Wa-tho-huk, which means Bright Path.
Jim and Charlie enjoyed sports like their father. However, Charlie died at age nine, and Jim’s mother died when he was 13. Jim attended the Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Pennsylvania. He was a star athlete in track events, baseball, and football.
In 1912 Jim Thorpe was selected to be a member of the U.S. track and field team at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Thorpe competed in the pentathlon, a series of five events: long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, 200-meter race, and 1,500 meter race. He also competed in the decathlon, a three-day series of ten events: 100-meter race, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter race, discus, hurdles, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meter race.
Thorpe won gold in both the pentathlon and the decathlon. At the closing ceremonies, King Gustav V of Sweden presented Jim Thorpe with his two gold medals. The king said, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King.”
Back in the United States, New York City welcomed Thorpe with a parade. The crowd on Fifth Avenue included 12,000 school children. The mayor of New York honored the great hero.
According to Olympic rules in 1912, athletes were not eligible to compete if they had previously earned money playing sports. A few months after the Olympics, a news reporter found out that teams in North Carolina had paid Thorpe for playing baseball. Olympic officials took away his medals. Thorpe wrote a letter to explain: “I was not very wise in the ways of the world and did not realize this was wrong . . . because I was doing what many other college men had done . . . .”
Thorpe was deeply hurt when he lost his medals, but he continued to be a great athlete. He played professional baseball and professional football at the same time. He was the first president of the organization that later became the National Football League (NFL).
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes in history. Besides the activities already mentioned, he was good at ballroom dancing, billiards, bowling, golf, gymnastics, figure skating, hockey, horseback riding, swimming, and rowing. When asked what his favorite sports were, he said, “Hunting and fishing.”
Thorpe died in 1953. In 1982 the International Olympic Committee overturned their decision from years earlier and gave gold medals to Thorpe’s family for his victories in the 1912 Olympic Games.
This photo shows members of the 1912 American Olympic team. Jim Thorpe is fourth from the right. Image by the Bain News Service, courtesy the Library of Congress.
Learn More
Here’s a video biography of Jim Thorpe. (There is some uncertainty about whether Thorpe was born in 1887 or 1888.)
Find other resources at Homeschool History.
