Overview of the Item |
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| Repository: | The HistoryMakers | |
| 1900 S. Michigan Avenue | ||
| Chicago, Illinois 60616 | ||
| (312) 674-1900 | ||
| info@thehistorymakers.com | ||
| http://www.thehistorymakers.com | ||
| Interviewer: | Julieanna Richardson | |
| Videographer: | Scott Stearns | |
| Title: | Video Oral History Interview with Bob Beamon | |
| Dates: | April 16, 2002 | |
| Abstract: | (ABSTRACT) | |
| Quantity: | 3 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials. | |
| Identification: | A2002.046 | |
| Language: | The interviews and records are in English | |
Olympic gold medalist and record-breaking track and field star Bob Beamon was born on August 29, 1946, in Jamaica, New York. When he was eight months old, his mother, Naomi Brown Beamon, died of tuberculosis. Because his stepfather was incarcerated, Beamon's maternal grandmother, Bessie, became his primary caregiver.
Beamon's childhood was set against a background of violence, gangs and drugs. During a fight at school, Beamon struck a teacher and was expelled. He was sent to a juvenile detention center and then an alternative school for delinquents in New York. At this school, he learned discipline and began to look away from street culture. Beamon used sports as a means to focus his attention and energy toward positive goals. He regularly broke track records at the local and state levels. After graduating from high school, Beamon attended North Carolina A&T to be close to his ill grandmother. When she died, he transferred to the University of Texas-El Paso, a school with a prominent track and field team.
In 1968, Beamon qualified for the Olympics in Mexico City. Four months before, he had been suspended from the University of Texas-El Paso track team for refusing to compete against Brigham Young University, a Mormon college with racist policies. This left Beamon without a coach. However, Olympian Ralph Boston began to coach him unofficially. On October 18, 1968, Beamon made Olympic history when he broke the world record for the long jump. Beamon jumped 29 feet, 4 and one half inches, beating the previous record by nearly two feet, setting a record that stood for twenty-three years, and becoming the first man to jump more than 28 feet.
Beamon graduated from Adelphi University in 1972 with a degree in sociology. In 1999, Beamon and his wife, Milana Walter Beamon, co-wrote a book about his life, The Man Who Could Fly. He has been inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Olympic Hall of Fame.
Selected Bibliography
Beamon, Bob and Milana Walter Beamon, The Man Who Could Fly: The Bob Beamon Story, Genesis Press: Columbus, MI, 1999.
Pope, Edward, "Bob Beamon's Life Is One Giant Leap," Miami Herald, 16 June 1999.
Williams, Lena, "Finding Truth About His Past Helps Beamon Live in Present," New York Times, 1 January 2000.
Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®
This life oral history interview with Bob Beamon was conducted by Julieanna Richardson on 2002-04-16 in Miami Airport Hilton, 5100 Blue Lagoon Dr., Miami, Florida and is recorded on 3 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include Bob Beamon's correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.
Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.
All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.
Index Terms |
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| This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms. | ||
| Contributors: | ||
| Beamon, Bob | ||
| Richardson, Julieanna | ||
| Stearns, Scott | ||
| Persons: | ||
| (PERSONS) | ||
| Corporate Bodies: | ||
| (CORPORATE BODIES) | ||
| Family Names: | ||
| Beamon | ||
| Places: | ||
| (PLACES) | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| (SUBJECTS) | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Video oral history interview | ||
| Titles: | ||
| The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Bob Beamon | ||
Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.
Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Bob Beamon, April 16, 2002. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.