Olympians of the Past: Images from NYPL's Digital Collections

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are heading into their second week and, as always, they've been filled with incredible displays of athleticism, grit, and heart. Even those of us who don't follow sports regularly can easily get swept up in the array of different sports (surfing!), the drama of competition, and, most of all, the stories behind the athletes and what motivates them. 

The New York Public Library's Digital Collections is a database of over 900,000 (and growing) images—photographs, prints, maps, manuscripts, and much more—and streaming video, the vast majority of which can be viewed online from anywhere in the world. In honor of the Olympic Games we've collected some photos from our Digital Collections of American Olympians of the past. Most of them competed over a hundred years ago and their achievements in sport and beyond have been largely forgotten. We invite you to view the photos, learn a little of these athletes' stories, and explore more in our online Digital Collections. Start in the Annals of American Sport collection. 

If an image piques your interest, there are many online NYPL resources you can use to learn more. Here are a few to get started:

• America's Historical Newspapers
• American Periodicals (1740-1940)
• Biography in Context 
• Newspapers.com
• Time Magazine (1923-2000)

DeHart Hubbard

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, William "DeHart" Hubbard was attending the University of Michigan when he made the Olympic team for the running long jump—which he won at the 1924 Paris Games, becoming the first Black athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal. The following year he set the world long jump record and tied the world record for the 100-yard dash. He was on the Olympic  team again for long jump at the 1928 games but, hampered by an injury, finished 11th. His long jump record with the Michigan Wolverines stood until 1980. In the early 1930s Hubbard founded the Cincinnati Tigers baseball team which played as part of the Negro American League. After his sporting career ended, Hubbard worked in the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission, managed a public housing project, and served as a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority. 

Johnny Weissmuller

Born in Romania to German parents, John "Johnny" Weissmuller immigrated to the U.S. via Ellis Island as a baby in 1905 and his family settled in Chicago a few years later. He learned to swim in Lake Michigan and at his local YMCA, and dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help support his mother and brother after his father left the family. In 1920, while working at the Plaza Hotel, he tried out and was admitted to the Illinois Athletic Club where he developed his unique version of the American crawl stroke. He became the most dominant swimmer of his era setting 28 world records, becoming the first person in history to swim the 100-meter freestyle in under a minute, and winning six Olympic medals—in two sports!—including three  golds in swimming events and a bronze in water polo at the 1924 games in Paris and two more golds in swimming events at the 1928 games in Amsterdam. As singular as his swimming career was, he is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the lead role in twelve Tarzan movies. 

Abel Kiviat

Born on the Lower East Side of New York and raised in an Orthodox household on Staten Island by Polish-Jewish immigrant parents, Abel Kiviat became a role model for Jewish youth interested in athletics. He is considered one of the greatest middle-distance runners of his era both indoor and outdoor. Later dubbed "the Hebrew runner," Kiviat played football, baseball, and track and field at Curtis High School and joined the Irish American Athletic Club in New York City which, unlike its rival, The New York Athletic Club, was open and welcoming to members of all ethnicities and religions. He held many world records including setting the 1500-meter record three times within 13 days. He competed in the 1912 Stockholm games, winning silver in the 1500-meters after Brit Arnold Jackson cruised past him in the home stretch. In an Olympic first, Kiviat's second place win over fellow American Norman Taber was decided by a photo finish.

Wilma Rudolph

Tennessee native Wilma Rudolph overcame many illnesses as a child including double pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio.  She surmounted these—as well as wearing a metal leg brace and being told by a doctor that she would never walk on her own—to become a revered track champion.  She qualified for the 1956 Melbourne games while still in high school where she brought home a bronze medal in the 400-meter relay. After graduation, Rudolph headed to Tennessee State University where she became part of the famed Tigerbelles Women's Track club. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympics, capturing first place in the 100-meter spring, 200-meter sprint and the 4 x 100-meter relay. Upon her return, her hometown of Clarksville held its first integrated public event, a parade in Rudolph's honor, because she refused to participate if it was segregated.

George Kojac

The son of Ukrainian immigrants, George Kojac was born in New York City in 1910 where, he told The Daily Brooklyn Eagle, he began swimming in the East River at the age of six. His competitive swimming dominance began at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx where he set the first of his 23 world records. He swam undefeated at Rutgers University and took home two gold medals in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam (100-meter backstroke and 4 x 200-meter relay). After Rutgers he pursued a medical degree, graduating from Columbia Medical School and going on to work as a physician in the Army Air Corps and then the Air Force. 

Howard Drew

Born in Lexington, VA Howard Drew's family moved to Springfield, MA to escape the Jim Crow South. Drew showed early athletic ability. At the age of 15 he signed himself up for the Springfield City Games and, since he didn't own proper cleats, hammered nails into his tennis shoes for extra traction. He won his first race, the 100-yard dash, but his feet hurt so much from his jerry-built footwear that he went barefoot for the following race, the 440-yard dash, which he also won. After dropping out of high school to work as a bellhop to support his family, Drew returned four years later and joined the football, baseball, and track teams. He qualified for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics as a high schooler and was a favorite to win both the 100- and 200-meter sprints but had to withdraw from both after pulling a muscle in a semi-final heat. After the games, Drew enrolled at the University of Southern California where he set four world records. Primed to prove himself at the 1916 Games, it was not to be as the Games were canceled after the outbreak of World War I. Instead, Drew enlisted as a private and after the war earned a law degree at Drake University. He worked for many years as a lawyer in Hartford, CT, becoming the state's first African American judge and justice of the peace. 

Ethelda Bleibtrey

Born in Waterford, NY but raised in Brooklyn, Ethelda Bleibtrey started swimming as therapy for her spine after contracting polio at the age of 15. As part of the Women's Swimming Association in New York she set a world record in the 100-yard backstroke and gained fame by outswimming Aussie Fanny Durack, considered the best in the world, in an exhibition race. That same year, as a 17-year-old, she was cited by the police for "nude swimming" after she removed her woolen stockings at Manhattan Beach. Legend has it that popular outcry in support of her led to the acceptance of less conservative swimwear for women.  At the 1920 games in Antwerp, Belgium she won three gold medals (300-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 400-meter freestyle relay) making her the first American woman to medal in swimming and the first woman from any country to win three Olympic golds. (That same year she told The Evening World, that she ate seven plates of ice cream a day!) Bleibtrey is credited for helping popularize the swim cap for women and was one of the first well-known women to wear a bob haircut. After turning pro, Bleibtrey toured the world in swimming shows, managed pools, and taught swimming to children and adults. 

Ralph Rose

Hailing from Healdsburg, CA, the physically imposing Ralph Rose made his athletic mark in throwing events. He competed in the 1904, 1908, and 1912 Olympics, bringing home three gold medals in shot put, silvers in shot put and discus, and a bronze in the hammer throw. Of Irish descent, he is best remembered for refusing to dip the flag, as was customary, to King Edward VII as a flag-bearer at the 1908 games in London to protest English imperialism in Ireland. Rose died of typhoid fever in 1913 when he was just 29 years old.

Harold Osborn

Born on the family farm in Butler, IL in 1899, Harold Osborn grew up running and jumping hurdles on the farm with his brothers. He studied agriculture and excelled on the track and field team at the University of Illinois and then took a high school teaching job while training for the Olympics. He had great success at the 1924 Games in Paris where he became the only competitor to win gold in the decathalon and another event (the running high jump) at the same Olympic Games—a distinction which still stands. Notably, Osborn wore glasses after a childhood accident left him without full sight in one eye which presented a challenge in timing his high jumps as his depth perception was skewed. After his athletic career, Osborn practicied osteopathic medicine and coached track and field. 

Alvin Kraenzlein

Alvin Kraenzlein is considered the father of the modern hurdling technique as he was the first to popularize leading with a straight leg over the hurdle. Raised in Minnesota, he attended both the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pennsylvania competing in sprints, long jump, and hurdles. At the 1900 Olympics in Paris he became the first athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics—a feat which wouldn't be repeated until Jesse Owen's showing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.